The Discovery on Tatooine
by H W Palmer
Summary: AU. Obi Wan, Anakin and their Padawans are sent on a desperate mission to uncover the identity of the Sith Lord. But the mission fails and the galaxy is thrown into peril when a Padawan makes a fatal mistake and they are all betrayed.
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

The stars glittered like silver lights on a dark sky. A small silver Coruscant starship, known as one of those the Jedi owned, sped out of hyperspace to pause in front of a small desert planet in the Outer Rim.

"Do we know the coordinates?" Anakin Skywalker, a well known Jedi Knight asked as he piloted the starship with ease and glanced over at his former Master.

Obi Wan Kenobi, a member of the Jedi Council, looked across at Anakin as he fumbled with the controls.

"Surely you would know, Anakin, the Jedi Council has explained to us about the objectives on this mission and the coordinates were one of them." Obi Wan answered, clearly not happy with how Anakin did not remember what they had discussed at the Temple.

Behind the two Jedi sat two young Padawans, waiting patiently as their Masters handled the situation.

Remla sat behind her Master Anakin, wearing small black Jedi robes similar to Anakin's. Her blonde Padawan braid nestled amongst her blonde hair and it was brushed aside as she turned to face her Padawan friend.

Taffo, Remla's best friend, watched as her Master Obi Wan fumbled with the ships controls and managed to bring up a display panel with the coordinates of the destination.

"This is going to be fun!" Remla smiled, fumbling with her lightsaber hilt as she tried to secure it on her belt. Remla had a blue lightsaber that Anakin had given to her and had never used it before, but she was hoping she could use it on this mission. Remla and Taffo were on their first mission as Padawans with their newly acquired Masters.

"Yea and this starship is one of the nicest Coruscant fighters I've seen." Taffo smiled. Her black hair was tied up and her Padawan braid swung as she bent down to adjust her cream coloured Jedi robes, the same as her Master's. "This is our first mission, Remla, so let's make it a good one."

"We are entering Tatooine now." Obi Wan announced as Anakin piloted the starship into Tatooine's atmosphere.

Remla stared down at the planet and it was quite different from what she had expected. Everywhere Remla looked there was sand, sand and more sand. There were no buildings or houses, just sand. It was completely different from Coruscant. It seemed almost remote and deserted.

"Is this all it is? It looks so abandoned and harmless." Remla asked as she stared out at the endless sand dunes that stretched on as far as she could see.

"Yes, it may look harmless, but it has its dangers." Master Anakin told Remla in a warning tone. Remla went quiet. Anakin had lived on Tatooine for nine years as a child before he became a Jedi; he really knew what the planet was like. Remla decided to listen to her Master.

"Sorry Master." Remla apologized quietly. Anakin was younger than Obi Wan and he was a Jedi Knight, not a Jedi Master, and Remla was his first Padawan, so he did not know how to handle a Padawan as well as Obi Wan. Obi Wan had been Anakin's Master once and now he was Taffo's.

"Remla, I told you to not speak badly of Tatooine, it will anger your Master, and this was his home you know." Taffo whispered to Remla. "And his mum died here too."

Remla nodded and stayed quiet. Anakin's mother, Shmi, had died from being captured by Tusken Raiders and Anakin didn't save her in time. Remla didn't like to hear about it and Taffo didn't like mentioning it.

Anakin piloted the starship down onto sand in front of a building made of stone. The Padawans waited as the ship landed safely and their Masters got out of their seats and moved down the landing ramp into Tatooine.

"This will be a new experience! Our first mission!" Taffo grinned as she got up and went over to the landing ramp. Remla followed and together they stepped onto the sand and felt the heat immediately. It was like being thrown into an oven and Remla coughed as the wind blew sand into the air and her feet sunk into the sand until it reached her ankles.

"This planet is really hot." Taffo coughed as more sand blew around the two of them. "I can't stand the sand. It's good I have my glasses on to protect my eyes."

Remla squinted as the hard sand blew into her eyes, blinking against the light of the suns. There was more than one sun?

"Look at the suns!" Remla stared up at the two suns in the sky. _Two suns?!_ That was why it was so hot here.

"Wow, this planet is interesting." Taffo smiled as they followed their Masters into the house. There were strange pole like structures protruding from the ground around them.

"What are those?" Remla asked, pointing at them. Everything in this planet was new to both of them, since they had lived all their life in Coruscant.

"They are moisture vaporators; they retrieve the water vapour from the air and are then used on crops or sold." Taffo explained as they walked down some steps and into the building. She knew of them from reading the many books at the Council Archives. Remla nodded, impressed by her fellow Padawan's knowledge.

The building was a small domelike structure and it was completely empty inside. There were no other rooms, just a bare stone floor.

"This is not normal." Obi Wan said quietly, searching the small building. "There is only one room here, and if this is to be a house there would be beds and a cooking area."

"Maybe it's not a house." Remla piped up.

"Something is wrong here." Anakin warned. Remla could feel it too, a huge ripple in the Force when they had entered the building.

Taffo stepped forward and stood on a crumbly part of the floor. There was a sound of breaking stone and Taffo cried out as she fell through the floor, dust and pieces of stone falling inwards as the floor caved in.

"Taffo!" Remla cried, running over to the middle of the room and looking down to see if Taffo was safe.

"The floor wasn't sealed properly." Anakin said, coughing from the dust. "It could have collapsed easily."

"Almost like someone had resealed this part of the floor, concealing something." Obi Wan murmured, then shouted down at Taffo. "Padawan, what is down there?"

Remla could hear Taffo coughing from the dust as she stood up and checked her surroundings.

"Well, it's definitely not a house, because this is what it was concealing; there are sacks of something that looks like powder down here!" Taffo called up to her concerned Master, and Remla could tell she was excited that she had found something.

Obi Wan tried to distinguish what was in the room, and then decided to jump down. Anakin followed and Remla decided to stay back and watch what was happening.

"I can feel something in the Force." Obi Wan affirmed, his voice echoing in the room. "There has to be something in those sacks."

Remla decided to jump down and see what they had all been sent by the Council to find. She took a deep breath and jumped down. She landed hard on a dusty stone floor, looking around to see Taffo walking over to her. The room was bigger than the one above and it was completely empty apart from sacks stacked in a corner. It was also a lot cooler and moist, Remla hoped they wouldn't have to leave so soon and go back into the intense heat outside.

"There's nothing in here, just flour sacks." Taffo said quietly. Remla could tell she was disappointed that they hadn't found anything. But then, the Council had told them that they had sensed a disturbance in the Force after one of the Dark Jedi had been seen stealing something important from some kind of Temple, and hiding it away here on Tatooine.

"These are bags of flour?" Obi Wan said, picking up a sack of flour, the writing had faded and the plastic around it was scratched and damaged from all the years it had been hidden underneath the moisture farm. Taffo could see the words 'Flour' printed on them.

"Flour?" Remla asked. Why would there be flour hidden underneath a building? It was nothing important at all.

"They look old." Taffo pointed out. She could see that the flour had been hidden underground for quite some time, and was starting to wonder if it was actually flour in the bags.

"Appearances can be deceiving." Obi Wan said quietly, feeling the bag he had picked up. Anakin was studying the room and the two Padawans stood underneath the collapsed floor where they entered, waiting for something to happen.

"Do you think your Master is right?" Remla whispered to Taffo.

"He knows many things, Remla, and I am proud he is my Master." Taffo smiled, and then frowned at the bag Obi Wan was holding. "It's not flour in those bags; I knew I had found something!"

Remla could see chunks form through the bag, and whatever was in it was hard and small, and was definitely not flour. The substance inside was making a ripple in the Force, and the four of them knew there had to be a good reason for whatever it was in the bags to be hidden underground. It could be the important things the Dark Jedi had stolen.

Both Padawans watched as Obi Wan ripped open the sack.


	2. Chapter 2

**The next chapter is up. Hope you enjoy this story.**

Tiny glittering crystals spilled out of the sack and onto the dusty floor.

"These are not normal crystals." Anakin said. Taffo knew he was right, because she could feel the Force through the crystals. "We need to contact the Jedi Council immediately. This is what we were looking for."

"If these are so important, why would they be left unguarded?" Remla asked.

"They wouldn't need to be guarded if they were hidden skilfully." Anakin pointed out.

"What are they?" Taffo asked, staring at the crystals.

"These are Force crystals, but they are usually bigger than this." Obi Wan explained. "It seems that they were smashed into pieces and hidden away in these bags."

"Almost like someone was trying to hide them here." Anakin added. "But Force crystals are not common at all, they are only found…."

"…in the historical Jedi Master's Temple underground, Kyle Katarn." Obi Wan finished. "These were what the Dark Jedi had stolen."

"No one can get to that Temple, Obi Wan." Anakin said, annoyed by this information. "It was sealed off by a Jedi Knight after he prevented the Sith from using the Force crystals."

"Force crystals?" Remla asked. "What do they do?"

"Force crystals are large crystals that contain the Force in them. The crystals magnify the power of the Force by a huge amount by using high resolution atomic force." Taffo explained complacently.

"So what do they do?" Remla asked not really understanding how these crystals could be so important.

"They are used to harness the power of the Force." Taffo continued. "When used by a Jedi they can be an easy way to communicate with the Force and even younglings can easily access the Force with these crystals. They give the user unlimited connection with the Force, and a very powerful connection."

"But where do they come from?" Remla asked, wanting to know about the glittering crystals that shone on the floor in front of her.

"They were used to guard the first Jedi Master, Kyle Katarn's, Temple underground of Nar Shadaa, and keep his spirit alive in the Force, but when the Sith discovered about these crystals and where they were kept, they went to retrieve them for themselves." Anakin explained. "The Council sent a Jedi Knight to seal the temple and destroy the Force crystals so no one could use them."

"And what happens if a Sith gets them?" Taffo asked.

"We can't talk about this now." Obi Wan interrupted. "We must inform the Council about this and get the Force crystals back to Coruscant so they can be destroyed. The Council never suspected this large amount to have been stolen."

"We should return to Coruscant now." Anakin agreed, Force jumping out of the hole. Taffo went over to the crystals and picked a handful up in her hands. They sparkled and glittered and they were really eye catching, they didn't seem dangerous at all. The power of the Force was huge and Taffo suddenly felt the huge connection, the power rushing at her like a waterfall of visions and emotions. In Mos Eisley there were a group of Jawas fighting in the cantina. In the Dune Sea there were Tusken Raiders riding their Banthas. She could sense the thugs playing pazaak in the cantina, knowing what cards they were playing before she could see them. Taffo could feel the Force everywhere, the power was huge and she felt connected to everything happening. She could feel the stars in the galaxy glitter, and was almost consumed in the power.

"We should go." Obi Wan said, breaking Taffo's connection to the crystals, Force jumping out of the room.

Remla looked over at Taffo to see her holding the glittering Force crystals in her hands and a strange look in her eyes.

"Come on Taffo, before our Masters get angry." Remla said, using the Force to push her up out of the room to land above. Remla waited, but Taffo was not following. Five minutes passed.

"Taffo?" Remla called, looking down into the room. It was quiet and the room was dimly lit by light shining through the hole in the floor. Taffo was not answering, Remla knew there was something wrong and she didn't need the Force to tell her that.

Remla decided to jump back into the hidden room and noticed that Taffo was lying on the ground, unconscious.

"Taffo!" Remla cried, running over to her and shaking her. "Taffo, get up, are you alright? What happened!"

Taffo lay still and Remla glanced around the room and noticed that the sacks of Force crystals had gone. Who could have taken them? There was only the entrance through the floor, and she had been standing there, she would have seen or sensed someone approaching.

"Taffo!" Remla pleaded, urgently wanting to warn their Masters about what had happened. Taffo opened her eyes and shook her head to clear her fuzzy vision.

"Taffo, you're ok." Remla smiled. She was glad to know her friend was alright, but wanted to know what happened to her. "What happened? Did you get attacked?"

"A man," Taffo said groggily. "He had a…." Then Taffo's eyes glazed over and she started to lose consciousness.

"Master!" Remla shouted, hoping her Master would hear her and come and heal Taffo. Padawans were not as experienced in the Force as their Masters were, and could not use the Force to heal.

Remla couldn't sense her Master or Obi Wan in the Force nearby and the only choice she had was to go and find them and bring them back to heal Taffo. They wouldn't have gone far.

"Stay conscious, I'll go and get our Masters." Remla promised, Force jumping out of the room to land back in front of the collapsed floor. Remla hurried up the steps and outside, back in the heat and sand. The light from the twin suns blocked Remla's view for a second but when she blocked the light with her arm; she couldn't see their Masters or the ship. They had gone. _They can't have left without us_, Remla thought angrily. _They wouldn't._

A few metres away, Remla could see two figures approaching from the top of a sand dune. It was Obi Wan and her Master, but what were they doing without their ship?

"Master! Obi Wan!" Remla shouted, running towards them, not wanting to leave Taffo alone any longer in case something else would happen.

"Remla, our ship is gone." Anakin snapped, clearly annoyed.

"Well what could have happened to it?" Remla asked, now more worried about being stuck on Tatooine.

"The person who owned this moisture farm took it." Obi Wan answered, wiping sweat from his forehead.

Remla was annoyed and angry by this information. The selfish owner of the moisture farm had taken their ship and left them on Tatooine. He must have taken the Force crystals too! Now they were stranded and had failed their mission.

"The Force crystals were stolen! Taffo was attacked and she needs healing!" Remla cried, desperate to get back to her friend.

"I knew I sensed something was wrong." Obi Wan nodded and the three of them hurried back to the moisture farm. Remla was having trouble getting her feet through the sand and the heat wasn't making it any easier. Finally they reached the moisture farm and Remla was thick with sweat and annoyed with Tatooine's climate after being there only for a few hours.

"How could she have been attacked? Did you see anyone?" Obi Wan asked as they went down the steps and into the shelter of the building.

"No, there must have been another entrance into that room that he went through." Remla explained as they stopped in front of the collapsed floor. Obi Wan and Anakin jumped into the room and after a few seconds, re-emerged with an unconscious Taffo on Obi Wan's back.

"How did you know it was a man?" Obi Wan asked.

"Taffo told me before she fell unconscious." Remla said quietly.

"We didn't see any passageway into that room." Anakin said as they left the moisture farm, standing where their ship had previously been.

"We will have to go to Mos Eisley and get a pilot to take us to Coruscant." Obi Wan decided.

"Mos Eisley?" Anakin clearly did not agree with his former Master. "We should not go there; it would lead our Padawans into trouble."

"It is our only choice." Obi Wan answered. "Besides, I think our Padawans can cope with being in Mos Eisley. We should leave now and get there before the suns set."

Remla didn't want to argue so she followed her Master and Obi Wan with an unconscious Taffo on his back, across the Dune Sea to Mos Eisley.

**Next chapter: The Padawans encounter danger at the cantina and face the Sith apprentice.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope you like the story so far. If you have any opinions or comments, feel free to review!**

Remla was dripping with sweat and her hair seemed to be glued to her head, her Jedi robes were dusty with sand that the wind constantly threw at her and her fellow Padawan. Taffo was walking slowly beside Remla, the intense heat had woken her up after they had been travelling across the Dune Sea for two hours and now Remla and Taffo were discussing what had happened previously.

"So why are we going to Mos Eisley?" Taffo asked as the two Padawans walked slowly behind their Masters who seemed unaffected by the heat.

"Our ship was stolen so we need to go to Mos Eisley to get a pilot," Remla explained. "But the Force crystals were stolen."

"Force crystals?" Taffo asked, as though she hadn't heard of them before. Remla knew Taffo knew what the Force crystals were, and was starting to wonder if Taffo was suffering memory loss for some reason.

"Oh, those glittering crystals, they were so powerful, that's what the Force crystals are." Taffo nodded to herself. Remla studied her friends' expression.

"Taffo what happened to the Force crystals?" Remla asked.

"The man took them, all of them, every sack and every crystal." Taffo said quickly, and Remla started to get suspicious, wondering if it was not 'the man' that took them, but Taffo…but Taffo would never lie to her, and she couldn't have taken all those sacks of them.

"What man?" Remla asked.

"It was a man, he didn't look like a Jedi or Sith or Dark Jedi." Taffo explained. "He hit me with a crowbar when he came out of the wall."

"So there was a secret passageway." Remla nodded. Her Master had been wrong.

"Mos Eisley." Obi Wan announced as they paused in front of a mass of stone white buildings standing on white sand. "We must be careful here. Hide your lightsabers so we don't attract any unwanted attention."

Remla was speechless at the sight of the city, she hadn't been near any city since they had arrived and that seemed like a day ago. The city seemed like a small suburb compared to Coruscant. It was crowded though, and there was less traffic.

"This will be interesting!" Taffo smiled, eager to see what Mos Eisley was like.

The four of them entered the mass of buildings, some were small and some stretched high above them, blocking out the light and casting shadows over them. Remla was glad to not see those burning twin suns anymore, even though the shade didn't help with the heat. Taffo stared at all the creatures that passed by and pointed at one of them.

"Look Taffo, that looks like a fly!" Remla tried not to laugh at a creature that was wearing an orange suit and had a dark brown head with bulging yellow eyes that glittered, and a long tube where its mouth should have been. It was weird and definitely looked like a fly. There were no aliens like that at Coruscant.

Taffo tried to hold back her laughter as they followed their Masters over to a building where Remla could hear loud, rhythmical music playing from inside. The place seemed to be like a cantina back in Coruscant, but a cantina for aliens and Remla stared at the different species that walked in and out, some were scary but some looked so ridiculous that Remla and Taffo had to laugh.

"Stay here while we go and find a pilot that can take us to Coruscant. Don't attract any attention. This place can get a little rough." Obi Wan told the Padawans as he followed Anakin into the building.

"It looks like an alien cantina" Remla commented as they stood near the entrance, trying to look casual, but it was hard to look normal standing outside an alien cantina

"We might end up with an alien pilot." Taffo said, adjusting her lightsaber hilt on her belt as she tried to keep it concealed. Something glittering caught Remla's eyes and she saw a Force crystal fall out from under Taffo's Jedi robes onto the sandy white ground.

"Taffo, why do you have a Force crystal?" Remla cried, distraught at how Taffo had lied to her about not having any and worried that someone would see the crystal and recognize it as a Force crystal.

"What?" Taffo snapped, not realizing that she had dropped a Force crystal on the ground.

"Taffo, someone will see it!" Remla cried, picking the Force crystal up from the ground and hiding it in her Jedi robes.

"Hey it's mine!" Taffo snapped angrily. Remla stumbled back as Taffo grabbed at the crystal, shocked at Taffo's behaviour.

"It can't be yours." Remla said calmly. "They need to be destroyed, they are too powerful."

"I want it for myself!" Taffo yelled.

"Taffo!" Remla shouted, shaken at how her friend was acting. Why did she want the Force crystal? Had she done something?

"Why do you want it? Why?" Remla cried.

"Because I concentrated on it, and I felt the power of it." Taffo hissed. "With one of these, I could sense everything happening on this planet! I could become a Jedi Knight! I could wipe out all the Sith!"

"Taffo, listen!" Remla snapped, horrified at Taffo's hunger for power. "I think these Force crystals don't just give you a powerful connection to the Force. I think they consume you with their power. You could easily fall to the Dark Side, and I think that's why the Sith want them."

"Okay." Taffo nodded, calming down. "I am sorry Remla. These crystals really are dangerous; I can't believe how close I had been to being consumed by the power."

"We all face the temptations of the Dark Side." Remla agreed. "But we are only Padawans, and our Masters will teach us how to become powerful Jedi."

Then in the corner of her eye she noticed the fly creature pull out a comlink and then a group of figures in brown cloth with brown leather masks on their faces approach the two Padawans. Taffo immediately recognised them as Tusken Raiders, or Sand People from reading the book on _The Natives of Tatooine_.

"Tusken Raiders!" Taffo cried. "Run Remla, run!" Taffo turned and ran from the cantina, Remla following.

"Taffo, what about our Masters?" Remla cried, looking behind them as the Tusken Raiders roared and shook their black staffs above their heads. They looked dangerous and Remla ran faster.

"If we can lose them we will return to the cantina and warn our Masters." Taffo said quickly as the two Padawans ran as fast as they could away from the Sand People.

Once they ran past a tall building though, the Tusken Raiders had outsmarted them and had gone around the other side of the building, so as the Padawans turned the corner they had ended up directly in front of the Tusken Raiders. The Padawans hadn't expected this and one of the Sand People swung its staff and it connected with Taffo's head. There was a loud crunch and a squelch and Taffo crumpled to the ground before she could even take out her lightsaber.

Remla quickly got her lightsaber and activated it, igniting the blue blade. Remla used the Force to help her dodge a swinging staff and slash her lightsaber through a Tusken Raider and then cut another one in half that ran at her.

Her lightsaber slashed madly through the Sand People as she tried to fight them off. She could sense a Tusken Raider about to stab at her so she spun around and sliced off its arm. Many brown clothed figures fell to the ground but more kept coming. Remla twirled her lightsaber and buried it into a Raider's stomach and let its body fall to the ground. Another Raider got its head cut off by a flash of her lightsaber.

Remla's lightsaber slashed and cut through most of the Sand People but behind her a Tusken Raider swung its staff and Remla didn't expect the attack nor had the energy to turn around and kill the Raider. The staff dug into the back of her head, knocking Remla out cold on the sand. Both Padawans lay unconscious as the Tusken Raiders moved over to take care of them.

Taffo opened her eyes to see the burning light from the twin suns glaring at her. Her head throbbed and she frantically tried to think of what had happened as she sat up, seeing Remla unconscious in the sand beside her. Taffo suddenly recalled everything, they had been attacked by the Sand People and had been dragged all the way back out to the Dune Sea. They were a long distance away from their Masters now.

Taffo looked over at Remla, feeling the power of the Force crystal. She quickly reached over and stole the crystal from Remla's Jedi robes, sliding it into her own. With it close to her, she could sense the power from it, and felt safe.

Beside her, Remla stirred and woke up, moving to sit up as she looked around.

"Taffo, how can we get to our Masters now?" Remla asked as she and Taffo sat in the sand, surrounded by a group of Tusken Raiders as they ate their lunch. The lunch didn't look like the lunch the Padawans would ever eat.

"We will have to think of something." Taffo sighed; worried that the Tusken Raiders would do something.

"Taffo, why did you have to steal a Force crystal?" Remla cried, annoyed at the present situation they were in.

"I'm sorry Remla!" Taffo cried, feeling like it was all her fault that she had taken only one Force crystal, and that they had ended up being captured by the Sand People and awaiting their fate.

"It's alright Taffo." Remla forgave her Padawan friend. "All I want to know is how we can get out of this."

"I know who is coming after us." Taffo said quietly.

"How?" Remla asked, suspicious. Then she grabbed at her robe and found that the Force crystal was missing. Taffo had stolen it!

"Taffo, you took the Force crystal!" Remla cried. "You need to stop using it; you need to break away from it!"

"But I know who it is without using the crystal!" Taffo snapped. "I heard the fly creature speaking on the comlink, he told the Sith apprentice that we were Jedi and that we were after the Force crystals."

"Sith apprentice?" Remla cried.

"I used the Force to listen." Taffo continued. "And the Sith apprentice told the fly alien to order the Tusken Raiders to capture us and take us to the Dune Sea where he would come and question us."

"We have to go _now_." Remla said. "I'm not going to fight a Sith apprentice, I'm only a Padawan!"

"Then we will have to fight our way out of this." Taffo said quietly.

"If we must." Remla agreed.

The two Padawans got to their feet and pulled out their lightsabers. Remla stretched out with the Force, pushing over one of the Raiders.

The Sand People turned to look at them and roared, waving their black staffs angrily.

"You call those weapons?" Remla laughed, activating her blue lightsaber. _The black staffs look pathetic compared to a lightsaber_, Remla thought.

"Those are." Taffo commented, igniting her green lightsaber as the Tusken Raiders got out blasters and firing at the Padawans.

The Force flowed strongly between them and they easily deflected the shots right back at the Sand People. Bodies fell to the ground and the Tusken Raiders slowly pressed back. Remla deflected another blast and the remaining Tusken Raiders realized that the odds were against them and fled.

"Look, they're retreating!" Remla grinned, impressed with how they had handled their situation. Now they could escape.

"He is here." Taffo warned. Remla felt a dark ripple through the Force, and she turned to look for this Sith apprentice.

"We should run now." Remla hissed. "Before he gets to us."

"He's on a speeder." Taffo murmured, feeding on the power of her Force crystal, sensing everything happening around her. It wasn't as strong as it had been when she had a handful of the Force crystals, but she could sense the approaching Sith, and she knew its name.

"Darth Maul." Taffo whispered as the speeder appeared into view, travelling at a fast speed.

"Let's run!" Remla cried.

"He's going to crash into us!" Taffo cried. The Sith apprentice sped at them, leaping off the speeder bike and landing on the sand. Taffo watched the speeder bike smash into the sand further away, hardly damaged as it lay half buried in the sand.

"The Jedi." Darth Maul smiled, and Remla was instantly afraid by looking at it. The Sith had red skin with strange black markings on its face, and it wore a black hood, disguising its flashing yellow eyes and pointed teeth.

"W-w-what do you mean?" Remla stammered, reaching out with the Force to stay calm. Darth Maul reached up and removed its hood revealing jagged spikes on its head as it grinned.

"I can sense your fear. Tell me the location of the Force crystals or you will die." Darth Maul smiled, watching the two Padawans like a cat watching mice.

"We don't know where they are." Taffo said defiantly, glaring at the Sith apprentice.

"Taffo, we can't fight a Sith!" Remla whispered. "We are only Padawans, not Jedi!"

"You know where they are." Darth Maul snapped. "You had one, so you have found their location."

"I don't know!" Remla cried. "They were stolen by the moisture farmer!"

Darth Maul smiled and pulled out a double bladed lightsaber, igniting the red blades.

"Then you will die."

Remla looked at her Padawan friend as they nervously watched the smiling Sith apprentice as it watched them with a smirk.

**Next chapter: The fight against the Sith apprentice and the fate of the dangerous Force crystals.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Any reviews welcome!**

Darth Maul spun its lightsaber and did a twirl in the air as it landed in front of the Padawans. Remla and Taffo had their lightsabers ready as they swung at the Sith, but it blocked their attacks.

Remla slashed, her blue lightsaber crashing against Darth Maul's red lightsaber. The lightsabers sparked and crackled as the three of them blocked and attacked, but it was very clear that Darth Maul was stronger.

"Taffo, take a defensive position!" Remla cried, and then she felt the Force and used it to push her up into the air, doing a flip and landing behind Darth Maul. The Sith used one end of its lightsaber staff to slash and with one unexpected move, cut off Remla's hand as she was about to raise her lightsaber.

"Remla!" Taffo cried.

Remla screamed and fell to the ground, clutching her burning gaping wound where her hand would have been. It was black and burnt from the lightsaber, and felt like molten lava had been poured over it.

Darth Maul grinned and continued to fight Taffo. Remla glared at the Sith apprentice, she was in pain and angry at how easily Darth Maul had disarmed her. But then, she was only a Padawan and he was a Sith apprentice.

A few meters in front of her, Remla saw her lightsaber hilt and felt it through the Force. She almost cried out in surprise as it twitched, like she was pulling it toward her. The lightsaber then flew into the air into Remla's other hand and she activated it, getting to her feet and attacking the Sith apprentice.

Taffo was happy to see how Remla had recovered and had been amazed to see how Remla had easily used Force Pull to get her lightsaber back. The Padawans slashed at Darth Maul who wasn't tiring like they were.

"Taffo, we have to get to our Masters." Remla panted, furiously fighting to block Darth Maul's repeated attacks, and it was hard doing it with one hand.

Darth Maul kicked Remla and she went flying to land on the ground a few feet away, her lightsaber landing in the sand. Her stomach hurt from the force of the Sith's kick, and she winced as she tried to get up.

"Remla!" Taffo cried. It was in that moment that Darth Maul spun its lightsaber quickly and sliced it through Taffo's stomach.

"TAFFO!" Remla screamed as her friend crumpled to the ground, her stomach slit open and burnt from the heat of Darth Maul's lightsaber.

"Tell me where the Force crystals were." Darth Maul glared at Remla as she lay vulnerable on the sand.

"The moisture farm, the moisture farm!" Remla sobbed as the Sith went back to its speeder bike, deactivated its lightsaber and sped away.

Remla burst into tears as she crawled across the sand to her dead friend.

"Taffo…." Remla cried as her friend's eyes stared blankly up at the sky. _She hadn't felt it at all_. Remla cried. Obi Wan would not want to hear about his Padawan being killed, she didn't want him to know, she didn't want Taffo to be dead. Her Master would not be happy at all that she had told Darth Maul where the Force crystals had been. The Sith would be able to track down the moisture farmer and find them. She had to get to the moisture farm and stop the Sith from getting the Force crystals.

Remla stared at her dead friend and decided to bury her in the sand. Remla went to move Taffo's body when a Force crystal fell out from underneath her robe. Immediately Remla's connection with the Force deepened and her mind cleared. Her mind seemed to open up to everything around her, and through the Force she could sense the flicker of life left in Taffo, the small chance that she could be revived. She could save Taffo, she was still alive!

Remla grabbed the Force crystal and positioned it over the wound. She reached out to the Force and felt the huge connection again. She could sense Darth Maul travelling to the moisture farm, and she could sense their Masters not too far away. She focused on Taffo and kept the thought of her being alive in her head. Remla closed her eyes and felt the Force around her. Taffo had to be alive. _Taffo is alive_. Remla thought, focusing on the huge power of the Force crystal. Remla opened her eyes and watched as the Force crystal glowed and melted into a glittering liquid which sealed the wound.

Taffo coughed and opened her eyes. She was alive!

"Taffo! Taffo, Taffo!" Remla cried. "Taffo, you're alive!"

"Of course I am Remla." Taffo smiled as they both stood up and Remla retrieved her lightsaber from the sand.

"Where did Darth Maul go?" Taffo frowned.

"I told him where the Force crystals had been." Remla confessed. "He's gone to the moisture farm."

"But he won't find anything." Taffo pointed out. "The Force crystals were stolen."

"But he can still track down the moisture farmer and shoot down our ship or something and take the Force crystals." Remla said. "And besides, I want to finish what we started."

"Our Masters will be proud of us when we kill the Sith apprentice." Taffo grinned as the two of them made their way across the Dune Sea to the moisture farm.

The heat was cooler than it had been earlier when they had first arrived. The twin suns were setting and it was interesting to watch the two suns slowly sink away.

"Two suns. We only have one in Coruscant." Remla sighed, missing her home.

"I can't wait to get back to the Temple." Taffo added. "My mum is a Jedi, do you remember her? She used to train me at the Temple."

"I don't remember her." Remla replied as they slowly made their way across the Dune Sea. At the rate they were moving; they would never catch up to Darth Maul and stop him getting the Force crystals.

"What about your parents, Remla?" Taffo asked, her voice echoing in the quiet desert.

"I never saw them." Remla said quietly. Taffo didn't mention any more about her parents after that. Remla had never seen her parents; they didn't want her anymore after she was sent to the Jedi Temple when she was young, and they had to sever all ties with their family once they went to the Temple. That had been hard. Taffo couldn't however, her mother was a Jedi, and so she could still see her.

The Padawans talked and talked, but the more they talked the more worried they got that Darth Maul had already tracked down the moisture farmer and taken the Force crystals. Remla began to worry that their Masters were still at the cantina. She could remember the Force crystal and sensing that they weren't far away. But they would have arrived by now.

A large shadow passed over the Padawans and they looked up to see an old ship fly over them and land on a dune a few meters ahead of them.

"It's our Masters!" Remla cried, as she and Taffo ran happily to the fighter. Sand blew around them as the landing ramp opened and Obi Wan and Anakin greeted the Padawans inside the ship.

"Padawan!" Obi Wan smiled as Taffo ran and hugged her Master. Remla looked at her friend's expression and began to think that she had other feelings for Obi Wan.

"Remla." Anakin smiled as Remla and her Master shook hands. Remla smiled at him, with his curly brown hair and green eyes. Did she like him? She didn't know. Or maybe she didn't want to know.

"You were both very brave Padawans." Obi Wan smiled as they sat down on the tattered old seats as the ship took off.

"We fought Darth Maul." Taffo said quietly, not wanting to remember what had happened. The Masters went silent and exchanged looks.

"Tell us everything." Anakin said. The Padawans told their story, of how Taffo had taken the Force crystals and the Tusken Raiders had captured them, then they had fought them and then Darth Maul attacked them because he was after the Force crystals.

Remla said how Darth Maul had killed Taffo and Remla had brought her back using the Force crystal Taffo had taken, and how Darth Maul knew where they were hidden.

"Von Sander, take us to the moisture farm." Obi Wan called to the pilot.

Von Sander muttered something about his home when Anakin glanced at Remla in concern.

"You're wounded." he stated.

Remla held out her arm with her severed hand and winced in pain.

Anakin got up and put his arm around his Padawan.

"We don't have any medical treatment at the moment, but we will treat your wound when we return to Coruscant." Anakin promised. Remla nodded and smiled, and then it felt weird with her hugging her Master.

"What about you?" Taffo asked their Masters.

"We had sensed you were in danger the moment the Sand People attacked you, we both left the cantina but we could not find you in the crowd, so we decided to get a pilot and go and retrieve you." Obi Wan explained.

"It was the easiest choice we had." Anakin added. "And I _was_ right about Mos Eisley being dangerous for you."

"We took out a mass of Tusken Raiders." Taffo grinned. "And fought Darth Maul and survived. Well, I didn't, but I was revived."

"You deserve to be a Jedi." Obi Wan smiled, impressed at how well his Padawan was adapting to this mission, and how she had connected with the Force easily. Taffo blushed at the compliment and smiled awkwardly at Obi Wan. Remla glanced at her friend and began to get that weird feeling that Taffo liked her Master in a different way than usual.

"We finally found one that would take us to Coruscant. The pilot is Von Sander, who is the Jedi Knight who sealed the Jedi Temple. He had been tracking the Dark Jedi and killed them, hiding the Force crystals underground." Anakin explained.

"And Von Sander just _forgot_ about the Force crystals?" Remla frowned. How could you just forget about having sacks of Force crystals underground?

"He always checked on them and was hoping to contact the Council but his comlink and communications were cut off, and when we told him we were Jedi, he immediately decided to help us. We were then getting very concerned about you two." Obi Wan explained. "We could sense you were in danger, but not from Sand People. We got on the ship and went to help you immediately."

"Only Jedi Masters can heal through the Force, but with a Force crystal you can bring back those who are close to death. Even Padawans like you could heal, which is impossible, but these crystals are very powerful." Anakin explained.

"We're home, back at my moisture farm!" Von Sander called as the ship landed and the landing ramp opened. "I haven't been here in years, and it looks different."

The Padawans followed their Masters outside to see Darth Maul had blown up the moisture farm, the sand was burnt and black and there was no longer a building there, pieces of burnt stone were scattered across the sand, but the pit where the Force crystals had been hidden was left vulnerable out in the open. _Von Sander was right about this place looking different. It was blown up._ Remla thought. Darth Maul was in his Sith Infiltrator and was about to take off.

"Get back in the ship Padawans!" Obi Wan snapped and the Padawans ran towards the ship when the landing ramp closed and Von Sander took off.

"Von Sander!" Taffo yelled angrily.

"He's left us!" Remla cried, but then as she watched she doubted the old pilot would do that.

"No." Obi Wan answered, smiling. They watched as Von Sander piloted the fighter toward the Sith Infiltrator and fired three proton torpedoes, normally found in Jedi starfighters, but Von Sander had them specially installed in his fighter. The torpedoes sped towards the Sith fighter as it set the coordinates for hyperspace. Darth Maul turned to see the torpedoes fly at him, and didn't have time to react as the torpedoes collided with the ship.

The Sith Infiltrator exploded and the Padawans stared as pieces of the black fighter landed in the sand and the explosion lit up the darkened sky, the heat from the blast burning at their skin.

"That was cool!" Remla smiled. Von Sander piloted the ship back to land in front of them and the landing ramp opened. Darth Maul hadn't found the Force crystals, but they were still missing and they needed to find them.

The Padawans ran inside the fighter as the suns finally set. Tatooine was peaceful and unaware of what had happened as the fighter set its coordinates for Coruscant. They flew away from the quiet planet and back out into the familiar surrounding of stars. The stars turned into blue streaks as they went into hyperspace.

"Remla, Taffo."

Remla and Taffo opened their eyes to see their Masters smiling at them. The Padawans had been so tired out from their first mission that they had fallen asleep.

"We have arrived at Coruscant and the Jedi Council wishes to speak to both of you." Anakin smiled, and then looked at his Padawan. "But Remla, you must go to the bacta chamber to get an artificial hand, and then you can go to the Council."

Remla looked down at her wounded arm and realized that it had been hours since it had been severed and she couldn't feel the pain anymore. The Masters turned and went down the landing ramp; they had landed on a landing pad in front of the Jedi Temple.

"Did you hear that?" Remla grinned. "The Council wants to speak with us!"

"Yea, well, you need to get your new hand first." Taffo smiled and the two friends said goodbye to Von Sander as they exited through the landing ramp.

"Oh, I'm not leaving." Von Sander smiled at the Padawans as he followed them out. "I'm going to become a Jedi Master on the Council for my efforts. And I hear you two Padawans are going to go on another mission." Von Sander was old and wrinkled with yellow cracked teeth and blue eyes, but very kind to the Padawans that they couldn't help but smile.

"Really?" Taffo grinned, and the two of them couldn't keep their excitement in as they followed Von Sander to the Temple, even though they didn't feel like going on another mission.

Coruscant was buzzing with traffic speeding around them and the lights from the buildings sparkled in the light. The sky was cloudy and it was a lot colder than Tatooine. Remla listened to the sounds of different vehicles speeding across the sky and smiled.

"It's good to be home." Remla smiled. Taffo nodded in agreement as Von Sander reached the top of the steps. They had followed him into the Temple and now they stood in a hallway of pillars. A youngling walked past Taffo.

"Welcome back, Padawan Taffo." the youngling boy smiled at Taffo.

"Oh thanks." Taffo smiled, and then turned to Remla. "Remla, they must know what happened in our mission, because I don't know that youngling. Although I think he trains with Yoda, and Yoda probably told them of us going on our first mission as an example. Yea, I trained with Yoda and he always told me of other Padawans going on other missions and it was all exciting." Taffo noticed her friend wasn't listening and went quiet.

"My arm hurts now." Remla looked down at her handless arm.

"The Council awaits you." Von Sander smiled, leaving Taffo to confront the Jedi Council.

"I'll see you soon." Remla told her friend, as she turned and made her way to the bacta chamber.

Taffo was alone as she stepped into the room, the door sliding open then closed behind her.

The Council was a vast room with 13 egg shaped seats in a semicircle around the room where the Council members sat, and big pillars that stretched high above her surrounded the big room. There was a big window stretching around them as Taffo stared out at the view. Taffo noticed Master Windu, the most powerful Jedi Master on the Council, studying her. She also saw Master Yoda and was excited at meeting the Council.

"Take a seat, young Padawan." Master Windu gestured at an empty egg shaped seat in front of her that she hadn't noticed before.

The nervous Padawan sat down and felt the all the Jedi Masters eyes on her.

"Your first mission was a success." Obi Wan smiled at his Padawan from his seat on the Council. Anakin sat on his seat next to him. Taffo was surprised that Remla's Master was on the Council, even though he was a Jedi Knight, and not even a Master.

"Fought the Sith, you have." Yoda said as he nodded appreciatively at the Padawan. Taffo beamed.

"We couldn't have done it without our Masters." Taffo said. She was talking about how Remla had told Darth Maul the location of the Force crystals and how close they had come to fail the mission, but also about how they had gone to Mos Eisley, and how she had taken a Force crystal.

"Indeed, but it was the two of you that fought Darth Maul like a true Jedi." Master Windu commented. Taffo blushed at this comment; she and Remla had been mentioned as Jedi when they were only Padawans!

"Shown us potential, you have." Yoda said as he nodded in agreement with Master Windu.

"Unfortunately, the mission was not fully completed." Master Plo Koon said.

"The Force crystals are still missing." Master Windu explained. "We have used the ships tracking device to find the Force crystals are in possession of Si Bonda in Bespin."

"Does that mean we will have to go there?" Taffo asked.

"The Council will discuss this matter. You are dismissed." Master Windu nodded and Taffo knew she had to leave. Taffo bowed and stood up, smiling at her Master as she left the Council room. Remla was outside and was just about to enter.

"What was it like?" Remla asked, moving her artificial fingers as she tested them out. It had been a painful process of getting the hand fixed onto her arm, but the blue bacta liquid had helped heal the scars it had left.

"It was scary." Taffo commented as the Padawans moved down the hallway to their meditation rooms.

"I'll see you tomorrow then." Remla said goodbye to her friend as they both went their separate ways back to their meditation chambers to rest and await tomorrow.

**Next chapter: The mission to retrieve the Force crystals begins.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Reviews are welcome, hope you like the story so far.**

Remla woke up with a calm mind. She wanted to know what Taffo had discussed with the Council, and she had been told by her Master that they would be going on another mission. _And now I get to see the Council today_.

"This is it." Remla said to herself as she dressed into her black Jedi robe, the same as her Master's, and fingered her Padawan braid as she hurried down the hallway to Taffo's chamber.

Taffo had woken earlier and she met with Remla as they hurried down the hallway. Taffo had her black hair out today and they were both dressed neatly in their Jedi robes, now that they knew they were going to confront the Jedi Council again.

"Do you think we are going to complete the mission this time?" Taffo asked her Padawan friend.

"Yea." Remla answered as they both stepped through the door that slid open and entered the Council. The 13 seats were full and the Jedi Masters watched the Padawans as they sat down on the two egg shaped seats in front of them. Remla took a moment to study the huge room and she hoped she would be a Jedi Master one day, to sit here with the Council.

"We have discussed this matter." Master Windu began. "The two of you will accompany your Masters on this mission."

A blue light flickered and a blue hologram suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. It was the Jedi Master Ki Adi Mundi and his apprentice Victoria who bowed as they addressed the Council. The hologram flickered as Ki Adi Mundi began to speak.

"We have spoken to Si Bonda." Master Ki Adi Mundi said, the hologram flickered and his voice paused between the flickering of the hologram. "He has revealed he sold half of his to a group of Jawas in Dantooine."

"Unexpected this is." Yoda said gravely.

"It looks like we will need to modify this situation." Master Windu said. The Padawans exchanged looks, unaware of what was happening.

"What do you mean Master Windu?" Taffo asked.

"Remla and her Master Anakin will need to go to Bespin." Ki Adi Mundi spoke. "We need to go on our own mission on Yavin; we can no longer stay here."

"Si Bonda is in Cloud City." Victoria said as the wind blew her brown Padawan braid in her mouth and she spat it out. "He will be awaiting you at the third platform."

"Then it is agreed." Master Windu said as the hologram flicked off. "Remla and Anakin will go to Bespin to retrieve the Force crystals from Si Bonda."

"And what of my Padawan?" Obi Wan asked.

Master Windu and Yoda exchanged looks.

"To Dantooine you will go." Yoda answered, Master Windu nodding in agreement.

"But that means we will be separated!" Remla cried.

"This is not of our concern." Master Windu said calmly. "The important thing is to complete your mission and get those Force crystals returned here."

"Communicate with comlinks you will." Yoda added. "Then communicate you still can."

"You will be given comlinks to communicate with each other." Master Windu agreed. "You will leave Coruscant in Jedi starfighters and travel to your designated planets where Remla and Anakin will meet up with Si Bonda and get the Force crystals. We expect that the Sith will be tracking you, and the Separatist leader Count Dooku. Taffo and Obi Wan will go to Dantooine, track down the Jawas and retrieve the Force crystals. Once that is done you will return to the Council so the crystals can be destroyed."

"There will also be no reason to leave the planet until all Force crystals have been retrieved." Jedi Master Plo Koon said. "You must retrieve all the Force crystals you can find."

"The Padawans will need their astromech droids to control the fighter on autopilot, because they cannot pilot a Jedi starfighter at this time." Master Windu finished. "But it is advised that you should know the basic controls and handling of the fighter, so if you are in any situation, you will need to pilot the starfighter without any assistance."

"Go to landing pad 65 to retrieve your starfighters." Plo Koon instructed. "There you will leave to complete your mission. It is strongly advised you keep alert at all times and do not hesitate to use your lightsaber. This mission will be dangerous."

"You are dismissed." Master Windu and the rest of the Council stood up; the Padawans got out of their seats and hastily left the room.

"This mission is going to be huge!" Taffo grinned, but sadly added. "But we are going to be on separate planets, we will be halfway across the galaxy away from each other."

"But we will do this mission so then we can see each other back alive here at Galactic City." Remla smiled.

Remla and Taffo made their way out of the Temple and over to landing pad 65 where four starfighters sat, the rising sun casting an orange glow over them.

"It's nice here when the sun is rising." Taffo said quietly as they both appreciated the view of the quiet city and the sun slowly rising in the orange sky. Behind them Obi Wan and Anakin hurried over to their Padawans.

"We will need to leave immediately." Anakin told Remla. Remla nodded as her Master gave her a comlink.

"You will see Taffo again." he smiled.

Remla looked back as her friend was given a comlink by her Master and they both said a silent goodbye.

Remla went over to her starfighter and got in, sitting awkwardly in the cockpit. She had never been in a starfighter before and it was exciting but nerve wracking.

"Remla." Anakin's voice filled the tiny cockpit. Remla held onto the controls of the starfighter nervously as she strapped herself in. "Tell your R3 unit to switch to autopilot and follow me."

"Yes Master." Remla answered through her comlink in the cockpit.

"Remla, this is so cool." Taffo's excited voice spoke through the comlink. "Well, I'll see you back here when our mission is completed. I'm leaving now. See you soon!"

Remla looked to the left to see Taffo's starfighter slowly rise and speed into the sky.

"Let's get going." Anakin said.

"Yes Master." Remla answered. "R3, um, switch to autopilot." She was unsure if the little green astromech droid would do as she ordered, but to her surprise it beeped and a scramble of words filled the data pad in front of her. It had informed her that the starfighter was set to autopilot.

"Let's go!" Remla grinned with nervous excitement as the starfighter rose into the air and she watched as they turned until she could see Anakin's starfighter ahead. She watched as R3 set the coordinates for Bespin and they sped after Anakin.

Remla gazed at the view as they sped away from Coruscant. She watched as the clouds went from orange to white and then the stars blinked at her as they left Coruscant's atmosphere.

"This is fun R3." Remla smiled. R3 beeped in agreement as they flew through the stars. Remla looked down at the controls and saw something that looked like a joystick. Remla held onto it, knowing strongly that this was what you would use to fly with if you were not on autopilot.

Remla looked up to see three droid starfighters flying at them from a distance. _They are here already?_ Remla thought nervously.

"Remla, three droid starfighters coming in." Anakin said and Remla saw his starfighter pull up beside her as the droid starfighters flew at them.

Red laser fire fired from one of the droid fighters and Remla saw her chance to use the controls. She turned the starfighter right to avoid the fire but the starfighter didn't move because it was still on autopilot. _I have to get off this autopilot if I am going to survive! _Remla thought quickly. The laser fire struck Remla's starfighter and just missed R3. Remla reached out with the Force to help her pilot the starfighter. She felt calm and at ease, she knew how to pilot the starfighter now.

"R3 get us off autopilot." Remla said. R3 beeped and Remla turned the starfighter left to avoid more laser fire. The starfighter swerved and Remla pushed a button to fire her own blue laser blasts at an incoming droid starfighter. There was an explosion and Remla dodged flying debris as Anakin had hit one of the droid's fighters and destroyed it.

"Stay back Remla." Anakin advised through the comlink, as he went full throttle at a retreating droid fighter, performing many complicated manoeuvres. _That's because my Master is the best starpilot in the galaxy!_ Remla grinned. The other droid starfighter came in behind Remla and she frantically dodged its fire, swerving left and right, flying straight down and up and then right, the stars blurs of white as she went full throttle ahead. The fighter was locked on to her and Remla used the Force to control her movements, she piloted her starfighter up then rolled back. The stars spun and Remla cried out as she felt dizzy as they manoeuvred behind the droid starfighter. Remla locked onto her target and fired. The droid starfighter burst into flames and Remla easily passed through them and caught up with Anakin who had just destroyed the other starfighter.

"That is excellent piloting for a Padawan." Anakin commented. Remla grinned at the compliment as she got R3 to repair the damage, and piloted her starfighter to Bespin.

"We will have to inform the Council that the Seperatists are onto us." Anakin said as they flew toward an orange planet with wispy white clouds around it.

"This is Bespin?" Remla said as she turned her starfighter to follow Anakin. The clouds cleared and they found themselves in a city of endless clouds. Clouds covered the huge city in the sky as Remla gaped at the sight. It was an interesting sight as Remla followed Anakin over to a landing bay. Anakin landed and Remla flicked the controls and landed awkwardly behind him.

"Master, we need to find Si Bonda." Remla said as she climbed out of the Jedi starfighter.

"He is at the third platform." Anakin said as Remla followed him across the narrow platform, looking down. They were high up and nowhere near land at all.

Remla followed her Master through the city where people passed by and went shopping; it was just like Coruscant but in the sky. It was weird but cool. The clouds were like fluffy orange cotton wool and Remla looked around as orange cloud cars sped through the sky.

Anakin stopped at another landing platform and Remla paused as Anakin made his way up the ramp and onto the landing platform. There was a cloud car parked there and a motionless form in the seat.

"Remla, look." Anakin said quietly. Remla hurried over to her Master and looked at the dead body of Si Bonda. He looked pale and lifeless.

"Si Bonda?" Remla asked, her voice shaking. _He couldn't be dead._

"Yes." Anakin answered. Anakin moved Si Bonda and he woke up and cried out. Remla jerked in surprise and realized that Si Bonda wasn't dead, he was just really pale.

"Si Bonda, I am Jedi Master Anakin Skywalker and this is my Padawan Remla." Anakin introduced them to the trembling man. "Where are the Force crystals that you stole from Tatooine?"

"Oh, I can't remember." Si Bonda answered, then seeing the look on Anakin's face, he quickly added. "I have them right here!"

Si Bonda climbed out of the cloud car and pulled out a brown shopping bag and opened it. One small Force crystal sat in the bag. Anakin snatched the bag and threw the Force crystal onto the ground, crushing it with his black boot.

"That is only one of them." Anakin snapped. "Where are the others?"

"Well, um, well…." Si Bonda gulped nervously, glancing down at his destroyed possession.

"Why were you in the cloud car for?" Remla asked. "You were waiting for someone?"

"Well….oh fine I'll tell you." Si Bonda grumbled. He had a wrinkled face and grey eyes with straight white teeth and black hair and a big grey moustache. He didn't look that evil.

"I was attacked. I was about to leave this city after the other Jedi arrived, I told them I would meet you here, but I wasn't going to. I was about to leave when I met someone."

"Who?" Anakin asked suspiciously. "Was it a Sith? A Dark Jedi? Bounty hunter?"

"Um, yes, yes, I have no problem with Dark Jedi at all, she is my friend, but she attacked me and took the Force crystals. I can't believe she would do that!"

"You stupid, foolish old man!" Remla snapped angrily, then quickly recovered. She shouldn't react in that way, a Jedi wouldn't react in anger.

"Do you not know what a Dark Jedi is?" Anakin asked calmly, giving his Padawan a look. Remla knew he was annoyed at her outburst, but it was difficult trying to control her emotions. "A Dark Jedi is a Jedi who turned to the Dark side of the Force. They do not care about anyone, not even you; it was unwise of you to help her."

"But why?" Si Bonda trembled, now frightened of the Jedi that glared at him.

"Because you have the Force crystals and right now the Sith and the Seperatists are after them." Remla said. "You were in danger carrying them around, like an easy target. Where did this Dark Jedi go?"

"Well, she has to go to a landing platform before she can go to the Sith Lord, who is…." Si Bonda paused as a thick dart stabbed into his neck and his eyes went white as he crumpled to the ground. Anakin glanced around to see a bounty hunter fly away using his jetpacks. It was Jango Fett, Anakin and Obi Wan had encountered him before. _So he was after the Force crystals too._

Si Bonda lay on the ground, dead, before he could even mention the name of the Sith Lord who had been causing all of this. Remla stared wide eyed at how quickly it had happened and hoped she wouldn't meet the bounty hunter again. But it was unavoidable.

**Next chapter: Taffo and Obi Wan's mission is underway and Remla makes a drastic decision that will determine her fate as a Jedi.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Any comments would be helpful. Thanks for the reviews!**

"I wonder how Remla is doing R6." Taffo said to her red astromech droid. R6 beeped as he set the coordinates for Dantooine.

"You know, I don't see what difference there is between Tatooine and Dantooine." Taffo continued. "They both have 'tooine' in them." R6 beeped in agreement.

"Have you been to Dantooine?" Taffo asked. R6 beeped and Taffo read what he was saying on the data pad.

"Oh, you were only built this year, I see." Taffo said. R6 beeped. "Have you been to Bespin?"

R6 beeped wildly and Taffo glanced around and checked her controls.

"What is it R6?" Taffo cried. When she read the data pad she immediately spoke to Obi Wan.

"Master, there is a ship approaching from behind us." Taffo said.

"It is the _Slave 1_." Obi Wan said. "A bounty hunter's ship, but I cannot recall the name of the bounty hunter."

"Bounty hunter?" Taffo frowned. "What would a bounty hunter be doing here?"

"He is here for the same reason we are, the Force crystals." Obi Wan replied as he turned his starfighter to the right. Taffo's starfighter followed his manoeuvre.

"How does everyone seem to know about them?" Taffo sighed as she looked ahead. They were approaching a small desert planet in the Outer Rim, Dantooine.

"It seems that someone in Coruscant overhead us discussing this and reported to the Sith of the location of the Force crystals. Whoever this was heard everything the Council discussed, but we would have sensed if it was a Dark Jedi." Obi Wan answered when _Slave 1_ began to fire continuous streams of laser blasts at them. Taffo's starfighter followed Obi Wan's complicated movements but a few stray blasts scorched the wing of Taffo's fighter. Immediately R6 beeped angrily. Taffo read the data pad.

"Obi Wan, I lost the autopilot and my torpedoes are disabled!" Taffo cried.

"You will have to pilot it yourself." Obi Wan answered, hoping his Padawan would make it to Dantooine alive. "Use your primary weapon." Taffo quickly grabbed the thing that looked like a joystick and turned it sharply. The starfighter spun in a tight roll and R6 cried out.

"It's alright R6, I can do this." Taffo reassured the droid. R6 beeped quietly, and Taffo read that he was not that reassured at all.

Taffo took a deep breath and reached out with the Force, sensing her surroundings. The bounty hunter was going to fire at Taffo's left wing so she would need to turn right. Taffo sharply turned the starfighter to the right and easily missed the laser blasts.

The bounty hunter locked onto Taffo and started to fire. Taffo could sense where he was firing and continued to manoeuvre and miss all the shots. The Force was a powerful tool, and at the moment it was flowing through Taffo and she was completely connected with it, and she could sense that her Master was as well.

Taffo turned the fighter left then did a few more manoeuvres and ended up behind the _Slave 1_.

"Let's get him R6." Taffo grinned, pushing the button and watching blue lasers fire from her fighter and strike the wing of the bounty hunter's fighter. Taffo had hit something and the bounty hunter manoeuvred his fighter away from Taffo as she continued firing. The bounty hunter went full throttle and sped into hyperspace.

"Good piloting, Taffo." Obi Wan said. "The Force is strong with you."

Taffo smiled and piloted her starfighter to follow Obi Wan to Dantooine. If it hadn't been for her solid connection with the Force, she wouldn't have known how to pilot the starfighter properly. _I hope Remla is doing fine._ Taffo thought. She followed Obi Wan as they entered Dantooine's atmosphere.

Taffo looked out to see a clear blue sky and a flat desert of sand with no life in sight.

"Looks like we are back in Tatooine." Taffo muttered as she decreased the throttle and followed Obi Wan over to a clear area of sand.

"This place is completely abandoned." Obi Wan said. "We will need to separate to find the Jawas."

"Where are they? Are they just walking across the desert?" Taffo asked, a bit worried that she would be separated from her Master.

"No, they travel in a sandcrawler." Obi Wan answered. Taffo knew what a sandcrawler was and nodded as Obi Wan piloted his starfighter to scan the area to the east. Taffo was now alone.

"R6, try and repair the autopilot so we can scan the area." Taffo told her droid as R6 beeped and got to work. Taffo turned her fighter and went west, scanning the desert for any life forms around.

"Looks like we will never find these Jawas, R6." Taffo sighed. R6 beeped sadly. Taffo saw a fighter on the data screen.

"Who is that?" Taffo frowned. "It can't be Obi Wan." R6 beeped madly.

"Oh no, it's the bounty hunter, he's back!" Taffo swerved to the right to avoid streams of laser blasts that continued to fire at her starfighter from the _Slave 1._

"We've been hit." Taffo winced as laser blasts scorched the wing of her starfighter and she began to panic as pieces of metal tore from the wing and were blown away. _The wing was falling to pieces._ Taffo realized.

"R6, try to repair the wing and I will try and avoid his fire." Taffo instructed. She tried to reach out with the Force to calm herself and get her thinking straight, but she was frightened about the damage and the bounty hunter was locked onto her starfighter and firing.

More streams of laser fire hit the wing of Taffo's starfighter and the wing blew to pieces and flames burnt at the cockpit, Taffo could feel the heat.

"Oh, great." Taffo muttered as the alarms went off and the starfighter started to swerve to the left dangerously now that there was no left wing.

"Try and stabilize the damage R6!" Taffo cried but it was no use when another stream of laser fire struck R6 and the little droid exploded, pieces of burnt red metal flying away. The starfighter was damaged badly and Taffo flicked at the controls to try and stabilize the damage but it was no use, the starfighter sparked and flames ate at the fighter. Taffo tried to turn the fighter away but the sand was right beneath her and the starfighter crashed into the desert. The screen cracked and Taffo passed out as the starfighter lay damaged and submerged in the desert sand, black smoke rising into the sky.

Remla felt something had happened to Taffo at that moment.

"Master, is Taffo alright?" Remla asked, concerned about her friend in Dantooine.

"Nothing is wrong." Anakin reassured his Padawan but Remla wasn't convinced. Remla and Taffo had been friends for a long time and they could sense each other in the Force easily. Remla knew something was wrong. But Obi Wan would be able to help Taffo anyway.

"So which platform would Aserit be at?" Remla asked her Master as they hurried over to the set of landing platforms. They had gotten all the information they needed from Si Bonda, even the name of this Dark Jedi they were looking for.

"The one where Aserit is taking off right now." Anakin answered, and with that he Force jumped into the air, doing a flip, and landing in front of a cloud car on a landing platform ahead. Remla was a bit scared of doing such a big Force jump, but she knew she could because she had the Force with her. Remla reached out with the Force and focused, feeling herself launch into the air and land beside Anakin. She landed hard and took a second to recover.

Anakin pulled out his blue lightsaber and ignited it, cutting the cloud car and burning the main thrusters.

Aserit knew that she would not be able to fly now, and jumped out and activated her red lightsaber. Remla's comlink beeped and she quickly answered it.

_Help me, I crashed, is anyone there? _The comlink switched off. Remla paused to think. Taffo was in danger, she needed help, and she had crashed. Obi Wan wouldn't be able to help her if they had separated, and it sounded like they had. Remla decided that she would have to go and help her friend.

"Master, I have to save Taffo!" Remla cried, running from the duel as she ran over to her starfighter.

"Remla! The Council forbids it! We are not allowed to leave until we have completed the mission!" Anakin yelled as he blocked Aserit's attacks. "Obi Wan will help Taffo!"

"He can't!" Remla cried. "Only I can. Taffo is in danger and she needs help." Remla climbed into her starfighter and fastened herself in.

"R3, let's go." Remla told her droid and R3 beeped as the starfighter rose into the air and sped into the clouds, as Remla went full throttle to save her friend.

Remla piloted her starfighter carefully and guided the fighter out of the clouds and away from Bespin's atmosphere. R3 beeped a warning that they would lose power if they continued to fly at the speed they were going at.

"Alright R3, boost the axillery power so we can go faster." Remla ordered her droid. Reading the books on piloting a starfighter at the Jedi Temple was helping at the moment, but she hadn't known then that she was going to be piloting her own starfighter so soon.

Remla watched the white stars speed past her, and was getting increasingly worried about Taffo. Who had attacked her? Remla gripped the controls and hoped they would get to Dantooine faster, but the problem was that it was halfway across the galaxy and the starfighter couldn't go to hyperspace. She wouldn't be able to get to Taffo in time.

**Next chapter: Remla goes to save her friend, but what will Obi Wan and Anakin say of her decision.**


	7. Chapter 7

It had been almost an hour when Remla finally saw the remote desert planet of Dantooine. Dantooine was smaller than Tatooine, but Remla was still anxious that she would not be able to find Taffo in time. It looked more desolate than Tatooine, even though it was supposed to have the second Jedi Council here.

Remla piloted her starfighter into Dantooine's atmosphere and R3 beeped as a blip appeared on the data screen. Remla looked down at the sea of sand and searched for signs of life.

"It has to be Taffo." Remla said, piloting her starfighter and setting the coordinates for the blip. R3 beeped and Remla strained her eyes to see if Taffo's crashed starfighter was somewhere nearby. The blip got closer and closer and Remla saw Taffo's starfighter half submerged in the sand, the left wing was on fire and dark smoke covered Remla's view as she awkwardly landed her fighter close to Taffo's, hardly able to see until the smoke cleared.

Remla quickly got out and hurried over to her friend's crashed starfighter. She dug at the sand and cleared some of it around the cockpit, which had cracked and Remla could see Taffo's motionless figure slumped in the seat.

"Taffo?" Remla pounded on the cracked screen and was surprised to feel it crack then break, glass littering the cockpit and cutting into Remla's artificial hand. Remla wiped the blood on her robe and bent down into the cockpit. Taffo was unconscious, a deep gash on her forehead where her head had struck the controls when she had crashed. Blood dripped onto her robe, and she had lost a lot of blood already due to the long hour she had spent while Remla travelled to help her. If she didn't get medical help now, then she would bleed to death.

Remla reached in and unfastened Taffo from the seat and dragged her out of the cockpit, being careful not to cut herself from the glass, and also trying to avoid the burning flames that were consuming the fighter, the burning heat causing Remla to move faster. Remla dragged her friend over to a clear patch of sand and tore a piece of her robe off, using it to bandage Taffo's head.

Even the bandage wouldn't help, and Taffo was losing a lot of blood. Remla undid the bandage and tried to think of anything that would help stop the blood. Maybe some sand could help, but there was a chance it could infect the wound. Remla scooped up some sand and checked the small hard granules but couldn't see anything harmful. Remla looked over at Taffo's wound and hoped the sand would stop the blood for a while. She got a handful of the sand and sprinkled it over the gaping cut and watched as sand covered the blood and went into the wound. It would be painful and Remla covered the cut completely with sand, and then fastened the bandage around Taffo's head. Hopefully Obi Wan would return to heal her. Taffo woke up and winced at the pain from her cut.

"Remla what are you doing here?" Taffo cried, sitting up and coughing out blood that sprayed across the sand. Remla jerked away and hoped she would last until Obi Wan would return.

"I came here to help you." Remla answered. "You almost died from blood loss you know, if I hadn't helped seal the wound, you would have died by now."

"Obi Wan would have helped me; I contacted him on my comlink." Taffo snapped.

"No, I think you contacted me instead." Remla said. "Obi Wan didn't get your message because it went to my comlink, so he wouldn't have known. And I had dragged you out of the burning starfighter and if I hadn't arrived, you would have burnt up with the starfighter."

"So you came halfway across the galaxy to help me?" Taffo asked, dizzy from the loss of blood and angry at the throbbing pain in her forehead.

"Yes Taffo, and now we should continue with our mission." Remla got up and went over to her starfighter.

"Remla, you will get in trouble for doing this!" Taffo cried. "The Council said we were not allowed to leave the planet until we had the Force crystals, and what about your Master?"

"I'll see you back on Coruscant." Remla replied dismissively as she got into her starfighter and told R3 to cut off the axillery power because they were in no hurry to get back to Bespin.

The starfighter rose into the air and Remla watched Taffo stand there as she flew away from Dantooine and her concerned friend.

Taffo watched her friend leave and sighed, annoyed. Remla would get in trouble for disobeying the Council, she just didn't realize how serious it was if you disobeyed them. Taffo walked around the sandy desert, waiting for Obi Wan and keeping an eye out for the sandcrawler. She felt her cut and peeled the bandage away to see lumps of sand with coagulated blood fall to the ground. _Remla had helped stop the blood_, Taffo realized. _She had helped me, and I was too annoyed about her getting in trouble with the Council to notice. I might not see her again, if I die here._

Then she saw Obi Wan's Jedi starfighter above her as it turned sharply to land behind her. R4 beeped a greeting as Obi Wan got out of his starfighter.

"Are you alright? I saw smoke and I could sense something had happened to you." Obi Wan was concerned, and noticed his Padawan's crashed starfighter.

"It looks like you will need to go in my starfighter for the rest of this mission." Obi Wan said. Taffo stared at her Master in disbelief.

"But Master, what will you do?" Taffo cried. There was only room for one person in a starfighter.

"I will wait here, and let you handle this mission, my young Padawan." Obi Wan smiled. "You can go and get the Force crystals, return to Coruscant and then get the Council to retrieve me."

"But you can just use the comlink and get them to do that!" Taffo cried, upset at how she would have to handle the mission alone, without Remla and now without her Master. Her Master who she really liked.

"You will benefit from this. Now go, get those Force crystals and complete the mission." Obi Wan started to walk away, leaving Taffo no choice but to get in the starfighter. Obi Wan then noticed his Padawan's wound.

"Taffo, I will heal your wound only if you do this for me." Obi Wan went over and used the Force to seal Taffo's wound. Taffo could feel the sand fall away and the stinging faded. Obi Wan had healed her wound, so Taffo decided to do what Obi Wan wanted. She wasn't going to argue with her Master, so she reluctantly went into the fighter and R4 beeped as they rose into the air.

Taffo watched her Master smile at her in a knowing way as she piloted the fighter past him and continued scanning the area.

"Looks like it's just you and me R4." Taffo said to Obi Wan's droid. R4 beeped madly and Taffo noticed a blip on the data screen. It had to be the sandcrawler. Taffo flew closer to the blip and kept an eye out for the big transport. They passed over the blip but Taffo noticed that nothing was there.

"There's nothing there R4." Taffo frowned. She made another pass, but there was nothing but sand.

"What does this mean?" Taffo frowned. She passed over the blip again and couldn't see anything but sand. R4 beeped and Taffo finally realized what was going on.

"Of course, the Jawas got the Force crystals and returned here. They had no room to keep them anywhere, so they buried them under the sand to conceal them." Taffo smiled at how easily she had figured it out, piloting her starfighter to land directly on top of the blip. The data screen showed the blips if living organisms were there. So there had to be something alive below.

"Stay here R4. The data screen showed this blip, so there must be something alive in the sandcrawler." Taffo pulled out her lightsaber and stood where the sandcrawler was buried. If she was right, then it would be underneath her.

Taffo bent down and dug at the sand, digging a deep hole, but there was nothing underneath. Taffo sighed, getting impatient, so she got out her lightsaber and activated the green blade. She buried the lightsaber deep into the sand and then felt it cut through something that wasn't sand, but metal. Taffo turned the lightsaber and made a square shape with the blade, then deactivated it. Then she went and jumped on the square that she had cut and fell, sand spraying in her face as she landed hard inside the sandcrawler.

Taffo coughed and looked around to see it was pitch black and she was deep below the sand. She had fallen about seven meters, and sand trickled down from above.

Taffo activated her lightsaber and looked around, her green blade casting her surroundings in soft green light. She could see a few dead droids, but no Force crystals.

She walked further down and looked around, turning a corner to see a dead end. The sandcrawler was small, but it was large from a Jawa's point of view. Taffo cursed to herself, she couldn't see the crystals anywhere. Then from behind the solid metal wall, she could hear a droid beeping. It sounded like an R8 unit. Taffo got her lightsaber and cut another square into the wall, the blade of light burning through the metal and casting sparks over the ground. Taffo tapped the square outline and the metal fell away, revealing an entrance into another room on the other side. So the Jawas had concealed the Force crystals in this way, hiding them in an unreachable room for a human. But not for a Jedi.

Taffo stepped inside and held her lightsaber ready. She could hear the droid beeping nearby and she ran toward the sound, her heart pounding loudly and her breath echoing loudly in the silent, abandoned sandcrawler. Taffo looked around and saw the droid, it was a yellow R8 and it beeped happily at her.

"How long have you been here?" Taffo was concerned about the droid; it had probably been buried here with the sandcrawler. The sandcrawler seemed as though it had been buried for years anyway, and so of course the Jawas would choose this area to hide them in as no one would suspect it.

"Ok, tell me where the Force crystals are, I mean show me, and I'll get you out of here." Taffo told the yellow droid. R8 beeped and Taffo followed it through a narrow corridor. The droid obviously knew something about the Force crystals and it stopped. Taffo looked ahead of it to see a big sack in the end of the corridor. She reached out with the Force and sensed the Force crystals hidden in the sack.

"So, this is it." Taffo stepped forward to retrieve the sack when the floor collapsed beneath her and she fell, screaming, into the darkness.

Remla piloted her starfighter into Bespin's atmosphere.

She couldn't see her Master nearby, but she could sense he was in trouble. Remla was annoyed at how stupid she had been, she had left her Master behind to go and save her friend, and Taffo didn't even care about what she had done for her. Besides, Anakin was cool, he didn't deserve to die.

Remla turned to see lightsabers clashing in the distance on the same landing pad Anakin had been on when she left. Remla piloted her starfighter closer and saw that Anakin was being Force choked by Aserit, and then he was thrown aside, off the platform and falling down through the sky.

Remla had to make a choice; she could either save her Master or destroy Aserit. Remla turned her starfighter and locked onto Aserit and fired. Red laser blasts collided with the Dark Jedi and her burnt, smoking body flew into the air and landed on the ground before she could even block with her red lightsaber.

Remla smiled to herself then went full throttle and piloted the starfighter down underneath the platforms where she could see Anakin's form falling through the clouds. Remla flew under him, piloting carefully and he grabbed onto the wing of Remla's starfighter, and she piloted them up and turned to the right to land carefully on the landing platform above them.

Remla got out and saw her Master; he was exhausted from the battle and he had been cut where he had been struck by Aserit's lightsaber on his shoulder.

"Master, I'm so sorry." Remla apologized quietly.

"It is alright, you did what you thought was best, but the Council might not think so." Anakin answered as he stood up and hurried away from the platform. Remla followed her Master and thought about what he had said. He had not criticized her decision, but he had made her rethink what she had done. The Council would not think she had done the right thing; they would have stressed over the fact that she had left Bespin without the Force crystals, and disobeyed them.

Now Remla felt guilty about what she had done and kept quiet as Anakin went over to Aserit's cloud car and pulled out a large metal box, and Remla could tell through the Force that the Force crystals were in there.

"Now our mission is complete." Anakin smiled sadly at his Padawan and the two of them went back to their starfighters.

Taffo opened her eyes and looked around, then remembered what had happened. The R8 droid had tricked her into falling into the hole so it could escape itself, and leave her down here.

"What is your problem?" Taffo screamed at the droid as she stood up and tried to think of a way out. She had dropped her lightsaber when she had fallen, and it was completely dark, so she could not see where it had gone.

From above, a bright light shone down and Taffo saw her lightsaber hilt and snatched it up, hiding it away in her belt then looked up to see R8 who had activated the light.

Taffo watched as the beeping astromech droid lowered a cord and Taffo grabbed it as it touched the ground and held on tightly as the cord pulled her up and out of the hole.

Taffo was safe now and she smiled at R8. The droid hadn't done anything wrong; the metal floor had been weak and rusty and had collapsed easily when she stepped on it. If R8 had gone ahead, it would have fallen down and would have never seen the sunlight again.

"Okay, you can follow me now." Taffo told R8 as she picked up the sack and moved away from the collapsed floor and R8 beeped as he followed Taffo across the corridor, its little beam of light lighting the way.

They reached the entrance that Taffo had entered and R8 detached the cord and Taffo threw it up into the light. It attached to the edges of the hole and R8 pulled himself up and he was back on the sand.

"R8, can you pull me up?" Taffo called up to the droid and she watched as the cord lowered down into the sandcrawler, and holding onto the Force crystals, Taffo grabbed the cord and was pulled up and back onto the sand and heat.

Taffo sighed in relief and took a moment to notice the features of Dantooine. It was really quiet, and there seemed to be no sign of the Jedi Council here.

"Let's go R8." Taffo smiled, heading over to the starfighter. R8 followed her and paused to have a conversation with R4.

There was space for R8 and the yellow droid lowered itself into the hole and sat there in his position on the other wing like R4.

"Okay, now we can return to Coruscant." Taffo smiled as the starfighter rose into the air. The two droids beeped happily and Taffo piloted the starfighter away from the desert planet and set the coordinates for Coruscant. Once she would get there, she would contact the Council and get them to send a ship to collect her Master. If she could get there at all.

**Next chapter: The fate of the Force crystals is in the balance, and the final confrontation against the enemy begins.**


	8. Chapter 8

Remla piloted her starfighter after her Master's as she saw the distant planet of Coruscant ahead, the city lights shining at her.

"R3, it's so good to be back home." Remla smiled and R3 beeped happily.

Anakin turned his starfighter to the right and Remla followed as they flew down and entered Coruscant.

The sky was dark and the city lights glittered as Remla followed Anakin across the sky.

"Galactic City." Anakin announced as he piloted his starfighter onto a landing pad. Remla landed hers awkwardly and hurried out. Anakin had the Force crystals in the metal tin and he handed them to Remla.

"Take these to docking bay 49 so they can be shipped out and blown up on a self destruct fighter, I will inform the Council." Anakin ordered.

"Master, why are the Force crystals destroyed this way?" Remla frowned.

"It is the only safest way so then all of them are destroyed, and the easiest." Anakin answered and turned to head for the Council. Remla saw Taffo get out of her starfighter to the left of her.

"Taffo!" Remla cried, running over to her Padawan friend.

"Remla!" Taffo smiled and Remla noticed she was holding the sack of Force crystals, and Obi Wan had not returned with her. Remla remembered what had happened, Taffo had crashed her starfighter and she must have used Obi Wan's starfighter because Obi Wan had R4.

"What is going on Taffo?" Remla frowned as the two Padawans headed for docking bay 49.

"Obi Wan told me to handle the mission alone, he let me use his starfighter so I could get the Force crystals and I did it by myself." Taffo smiled, proud of what she had achieved and that she had done it for her Master. "Now I have to get the Council to collect my Master from Dantooine and then we can destroy these Force crystals forever."

"That is good." Remla agreed, the Council would definitely favour Taffo for that one.

The Padawans reached docking bay 49, a flashing sign lit up the number 49 ahead of them and they hurried across the landing pad to see Von Sander activating what looked like a small pointed torpedo of some kind.

"This is how we are going to destroy them?" Taffo frowned.

"Yep, it's definitely a strange way." Remla answered as the Padawans bowed to greet Master Von Sander.

"Hello young Padawans." Von Sander smiled. "I see you finally brought those Force crystals back. Was it worth all that trouble then?"

"Yea, the Council will be happy to see we completed our mission." Taffo smiled. Remla frowned; there was something odd about Von Sander at this moment, and the way his black eyes gleamed. Black eyes? Von Sander never had black eyes. This wasn't him!

"Just hand over those crystals then, good Padawans, and we'll get this droid – I mean rocket - launched." Von Sander reached for the tin Remla was holding. Remla pulled the tin box away from his grasp, immediately not trusting the old man. Did the Council trust him? The T990 didn't look like a fighter to Remla, but more like a droid, similar to a probe droid. And his eyes – it looked exactly the same as Von Sander but with black eyes. What did that mean?

Taffo immediately handed over her sack of Force crystals.

"What did you do that for?" Remla hissed as Von Sander loaded the crystals onto the small fighter and grinned as he faced Remla.

"The Council trusts him, Remla." Taffo said. "We should too. Look, he loaded the Force crystals onto the fighter, so he must be doing what the Council instructed, and not taking them for himself."

Remla agreed, and handed Von Sander the tin reluctantly.

"Good." Von Sander smiled, but now Remla realized she had been right all along. _They should have never trusted this old man_, Remla thought, whipping out her lightsaber and activating the blue blade. Von Sander grinned and released the fighter, and the Padawans watched as it unfolded into a Sith probe droid which carried the crystals away.

"Now my Master will get them as planned." Von Sander grinned and Remla slashed at him. Von Sander activated his red lightsaber quickly and blocked Remla's attack. Then his face rippled and the skin looked like it was bubbling and then it melted off to reveal a black face made of dark black mist.

"A Kasich!" Taffo cried. "It took the face of Von Sander! It must have killed the real Von Sander!"

"Taffo, he is the new Sith apprentice!" Remla cried and Taffo suddenly realized that too, igniting her green lightsaber and attacking the Sith.

"So, how did you do it?" Remla snapped, as she defended herself from the Sith apprentice's attacks. She knew they would have to get to the probe droid before it reached the Sith Lord.

"You killed the real Von Sander and pretended to be him!" Remla cried, trying to distract the Sith.

"Oh, very good Padawan." he grinned, slashing as Remla blocked and then he kicked Taffo back. Taffo landed hard and her lightsaber flew out of her hand and skittered over to the edge of the platform. Remla angrily attacked the Sith apprentice.

"Darth Maul was the Sith apprentice!" Taffo shouted as she Force jumped to her feet and used the Force to pull her lightsaber into her hand and swung her lightsaber at the Sith.

"Yes, but I killed him so I took his place, just as I had planned." the Sith grinned as he easily defended himself from the Padawans. "I went to Dantooine and did what the Sith Lord had foreseen; I killed the old man Von Sander and pretended to be Von Sander when the Jedi saw me at the cantina. Then I killed Darth Maul and became the Sith apprentice, and the Council allowed me to become a Jedi Master, because they thought I was the old fool. Then I waited as you went to recover the Force crystals for me and bring them here. _You_ let us get the crystals and now the Sith will rule the galaxy!"

"You Sith filth!" Taffo snapped, whirling her lightsaber in a circle and stabbing it at him. The Sith apprentice foresaw the move and sliced his lightsaber up to cut through her shoulder, slicing deeply into the flesh.

Taffo screamed as she fell, wounded onto the ground, a deep burning, black cut across her shoulder. She was left vulnerable now and Remla knew she would have to protect her friend.

"You have to go!" Remla looked at her friend, but the message was clearly shown on her expression. _Get in the starfighter and go after the probe droid._

"Ok, I will go." Taffo confirmed, getting up and retrieving her lightsaber as she ran for her starfighter.

"You Padawans will never stop my probe droid!" the Sith cried as he and Remla exchanged blows.

Remla knew Taffo could do it and she smiled at the Sith's comment.

"You Sith are always overconfident and arrogant. You underestimate us Padawans." Remla snapped. The Sith was a bit thrown back by Remla's comment and he snarled, attacking harder as Remla defended his angry blows.

"I don't think your friend can pilot the starfighter well enough to follow the droid through the asteroid field." he grinned. Remla paused, she had not expected this at all, Taffo would be heading to her death! There was hardly any chance of surviving an asteroid field unless you were an experienced pilot!

Remla did not want that to happen as she quickly blocked the Sith's attack. Their lightsabers crackled together, blue and red, as they entered a lightsaber lock. Remla got annoyed at this and pulled her lightsaber away, Force jumping over the Sith and landing behind him to slash at him. He spun quickly and blocked the attack.

"Master Anakin has taught you well." he panted, his old age catching up with him. "But you are not a Jedi yet."

"Well, it depends on the Council really." Remla commented as she swung her lightsaber up to try and get a hit on his shoulder, but the Sith quickly blocked and the lightsabers crackled as they connected again and again.

"Hone your hatred and use your anger to destroy me." The Sith apprentice said as he continued blocking Remla's attacks.

"I don't hate you, I pity you, and I'm not angry at all." Remla commented, continuously attacking but the Sith kept blocking and Remla knew she wouldn't be able to hurt him.

"Hate is powerful, it makes you stronger." the Sith advised as he smiled at the Padawan who was struggling with her feelings. Von Sander could sense she was having trouble with the Council because of how she had gone to save her friend, disobeying the Council, and getting herself into trouble, trouble enough that she might not be able to become a Jedi because of what she did.

"You have a lot of anger towards the Council." the Sith smiled at the Padawan. If he could turn her to the Dark Side, it would be another success for him.

"How did you know that?" Remla snapped, swinging her lightsaber at the Sith's head, but he stepped away and blocked.

"The Dark Side is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural." the Sith answered as he blocked Remla's attacks. "Remla, even though you went to help Taffo when she was trapped on Dantooine, the Council would not be happy with what you did. They might not let you go through the trials to become a Jedi. Why even join the Jedi? They are weak, bounded to their rules of the Jedi Code, never using their emotions to fight and fuel their connection to the Force!"

Remla paused, even lowered her lightsaber a bit as she stared at the elderly Sith. She had ignored what he had been saying, but now he had said what she had been afraid of since she arrived back in Coruscant. He had spoken her fear. Jedi weren't allowed to fear, and yet she did, she had a lot of fear and doubt, emotions Jedi weren't meant to feel.

"Yes, the Dark side is powerful, and you can't stop me."

The Sith kicked Remla and she fell to the ground.

Remla looked up as he stood above her, smiling triumphantly.

"All you can do is let your anger destroy me, it is the only way." he raised his lightsaber as Remla held hers up to block but she was too worried about what the Sith had said, and all she hoped was that Taffo would be able to destroy the droid before she entered the asteroid field. Taffo was their only hope.

**Next chapter: Taffo travels to Korriban and encounters more danger than expected.**


	9. Chapter 9

Taffo piloted her starfighter away from Coruscant, keeping her eyes locked on the probe droid ahead, which was too far away to fire. She had to get closer to be able to attack.

"R4, boost the axillery power." Taffo ordered her droid. "R8 see if we can lock onto the probe droid with proton torpedoes."

The droids went to work as Taffo went full throttle after the probe droid, but she could sense Remla was in trouble through the Force. Taffo hoped her friend was alright, but she could sense that Remla was afraid, and that Von Sander was very strong in the Dark side.

"I have to get back to Remla." Taffo decided. She could either go back to help her friend or destroy the probe droid. She had to help Remla, she could sense Remla was in trouble and in danger, she could sense it all now. Von Sander had read her thoughts and was using them to get her to fear him. But she couldn't abandon the mission for her fellow Padawan, even though Remla already had.

R4 beeped angrily when R8 beeped to let Taffo know that they could fire the torpedoes. Taffo smiled and fired three torpedoes, watching them fly straight at the probe droid and then they exploded, not even hitting the droid.

"What happened?" Taffo cried when she saw that the torpedoes had hit asteroids, not the droid. They were heading into an asteroid field!

R8 beeped madly, he had been in Dantooine under the sandcrawler for so long, and he didn't want to die so soon.

"It's ok; I can handle an asteroid field." Taffo lied. She knew it was going to be very difficult, and if she tried to fire she would not be able to get a clear shot at the probe droid. It was suicide, but she knew she had to stop the droid.

R4 beeped sadly, and Taffo noticed a planet in the centre of the asteroid field. It was the Sith planet Korriban, and Taffo didn't know it was so far out here. The planet was small and black, covered in dark clouds.

"It's Korriban, if that droid gets there, then it's all over." Taffo commented. She realized she was the only hope for the Jedi, and she would have to destroy the droid to stop the Sith. Taffo was a bit scared of this, but she pulled herself together and piloted the starfighter into the asteroids. The starfighter shook as an asteroid crashed into the right wing of the starfighter. R8 screamed as he watched another one narrowly miss him.

"Hang on, we can do this." Taffo locked onto the droid and fired red lasers, but it only hit an asteroid that exploded as Taffo tried to hit it.

"Try and lock onto him R8." Taffo ordered as she sharply turned the starfighter only to hit another asteroid. The cockpit beeped as R4 beeped a warning that the torpedoes were disabled. That would make it harder to fire at the probe droid now.

Taffo turned again only to hit another asteroid and the starfighter began to slow down as asteroids continuously crashed into the fighter. There were loud scrapes and sparks went flying as the asteroids collided with the starfighter. If they took anymore damage, they would explode.

"We can make it." Taffo piloted the starfighter past a huge asteroid and locked onto the probe droid as it started to enter Korriban's atmosphere. It had gone.

"Great, it's gone." Taffo entered Korriban's atmosphere to see a dark sky with lightning that flashed past them, the ground was black sand and there was only one black stone building in the centre. It was a silent and eerie planet. Taffo piloted the starfighter around until she saw the droid enter the building.

"Oh great!" Taffo cried, silently landing her starfighter on the ground a few meters ahead of the building. "Okay, it looks like I'll have to go inside and stop that droid before it reaches the Sith."

R4 beeped quietly as Taffo got out of the starfighter and pulled out her lightsaber, this was the planet of the Sith so she would need to be careful. Taffo turned back and grabbed a few items hidden in a compartment in the cockpit then slid them into her belt and moved over to the huge stone door in front of her. Taffo knew she would have to be stealthy on this one, she didn't want the Sith after her or to get captured. Taffo took a deep breath and pushed the datapad to the left of the door. There was a beep and the door slowly began to grind open to reveal inside. Taffo stared in dread.

Remla rolled to the side and Force jumped up, her lightsaber ready. She had been afraid and was beginning to fear the Sith apprentice, but when she reached out to the Force, her mind had cleared and she was prepared to fight as she had sensed that Taffo had entered Korriban, the planet of the Sith. Remla attacked the Sith with renewed confidence, wanting to get to Taffo and help her as soon as possible. The apprentice was surprised at how Remla had acted, and didn't expect her to hold so much strength as she attacked hard.

"Afraid?" he taunted, but Remla was ignoring his comments and using the Force she could predict the attacks he was using. The Sith seemed surprised the Padawan had connected with the Force so easily and how it flowed through her and partially controlled her movements when suddenly she blocked then swung high, spinning her lightsaber as she swung and then cut the Sith's arm off. He fell to the ground weeping and Remla kicked his lightsaber away.

"You are pathetic." Remla snapped, and raised her lightsaber to deliver the killing blow. Then she remembered the Jedi Code, she was not to kill him because he was unarmed. But he was Sith and he would kill her if she was in his position. He deserved to die, to be slaughtered like a mad butcher cutting off the heads of cows.

"A wise decision, Remla, but-" he never finished his sentence. Remla activated her lightsaber and held it at the Sith's neck. She would sever his head and watch him beg. But it wasn't the Jedi way. Remla reached out with the Force and shoved the Sith off the platform. The Sith apprentice weakly grabbed onto the edge and hung there. Remla began to reconsider letting him live, but she couldn't murder him in cold blood. But the Council wouldn't know.

"Please, I can still be saved from the Dark side." the Sith pleaded. Remla turned and left the Sith to hang there as she ran over to her starfighter. She was annoyed how the Council didn't help her, but she guessed they had been too far away from docking bay 49 to help. Remla wanted to prove to the Council that she could handle a Sith after all. But she didn't want to leave him there if he could escape. Remla ran back to the Sith and activated her lightsaber.

"Please don't kill me!" the Sith screamed. "I'll do anything! And if you murder me you will be rejected by the Council! You won't become a Jedi!"

"Then if that happens, I'll just become a Sith." Remla snapped coldly. The Sith apprentice stared at her in fear. Remla swung her lightsaber and cut off the Sith's hands. Then she ran back to the starfighter, hearing his screams as he fell to his death and felt no remorse at all.

Remla got into her starfighter and set the coordinates for Korriban, which was right in the centre of the asteroid field. _I wonder how Taffo managed to get through._ Remla thought as the starfighter rose into the air and sped out of Coruscant, back into the familiar galaxy, stars glittering against the pitch black sky.

"Ok R3, activate turbo boosters." Remla said, reading a notice on the controls and one of them had been turbo boosters. R3 beeped and suddenly the fighter burst ahead at full speed, travelling really fast as the stars became a blur, the asteroids were getting closer.

"Okay, deactivate them!" Remla cried as she saw the approaching asteroid field. She had never realized that there had been turbo boosters, but now they had been used once and she didn't want to try again in case they blew.

R3 deactivated the boosters and Remla entered the asteroid field, sharply turning the fighter so it could avoid the asteroids, but it was no use and Remla found dodging the asteroids difficult, especially for an inexperienced pilot like her. Remla turned but an asteroid crashed into the starfighter, causing a big dent and shaking the cockpit. Remla turned to avoid another asteroid but was hit again, the large rock scraping against the metal and causing sparks.

"Ok, R3 activate autopilot." Remla ordered. The droid beeped and Remla released the controls and let the autopilot manoeuvre the fighter around the asteroids. The autopilot was really good at manoeuvring through the field and Remla was annoyed at how she didn't think of using the autopilot before.

Remla looked ahead and saw the dark Sith planet of Korriban, and hoped Taffo was safe.

**Next chapter: The attempt to destroy the Force crystals is going to be difficult.**


	10. Chapter 10

Taffo had stepped into the trap, as soon as she had stepped inside; she was surrounded by droidekas who had their blue deflector shields up. Taffo was captured, she couldn't defeat seven droidekas. They had found out she had entered the building and now she was captured. She had failed.

She put her lightsaber in her belt and lowered her head in a gesture of surrender as the droidekas moved forward and surrounded her, blasters ready as they led her away. Taffo followed the droidekas down the dark hallway and tried to think of a way to escape, but the droidekas would fire and she wouldn't be able to deflect their fire, especially because they fired four blasters at once. Obi Wan had told her that droidekas were hard to fight, even for a Jedi. Taffo felt bad, missing her Master terribly and realized that she hadn't told the Council about Obi Wan. He wouldn't be able to get out of Dantooine now!

Taffo remembered what she had brought with her and thought quickly. If she was taken to a holding cell, she could escape with her lightsaber, of course, and then she would destroy the Sith building, hopefully where the Force crystals were. Taffo decided she would have to do it now when the droidekas suddenly stopped. Four stayed with her and three moved down back to the hallway. Taffo could immediately sense that Remla was here, and now she would be captured too.

Taffo continued to follow the droidekas then stopped when they lowered their shields. Taffo immediately pulled out her lightsaber and cut down two of them, but the other two activated their shields and fired. Taffo backed up, deflecting their fire with her green lightsaber and moving closer to where Remla stood.

"Taffo, good to see you again." Remla smiled as she stood beside her friend, swinging her lightsaber. The two Padawans were very worn out from everything that had happened, their hair was a mess and their braids no longer looked like braids. Taffo was covered in sand from Dantooine and her shoulder was still badly burnt but healing and Remla was sweating from her hard fight with the Sith apprentice. They continued to deflect the droidekas fire, and Taffo was finding it hard with her aching shoulder.

"What can we do?" Remla panted as she deflected more blaster fire.

"I got a few thermal detonators that should blow up this place and destroy the Force crystals." Taffo smiled, holding her belt in place as the droidekas continued to fire. Taffo pulled out a thermal detonator and activated it. The small grenade ticked loudly and the droidekas knew what Taffo was about to throw at them.

"Run for the grate and get inside." Taffo whispered as the droidekas stopped firing and Taffo threw the detonator.

The grenade landed on the ground and ticked two more times then exploded. Taffo and Remla ran straight for the small grate to the left of them and Remla kicked it down and crawled inside and Taffo followed as the explosion ripped through the hallway, burning pieces of droidekas flying past the Padawans as they crawled into the grate, barely missing the flames. Remla and Taffo deactivated their lightsabers and hid them under their robes. The heat was worse than Tatooine, and the flames licked at the entrance of the grate as Remla and Taffo crawled through the tunnel quietly. The explosion had shaken the building and flames burned through the hallway.

"If we get more thermal detonators and throw them down through these air conditioning tunnels we can blow up this place." Remla suggested. Her and Taffo were sweating and covered in ash from the explosion that had almost killed them, but they had escaped.

"That's a good idea." Taffo agreed. The Padawans crawled through the air conditioning tunnels until they reached a grate underneath them that led into what looked like a room of holding cells.

"Taffo, they have prisoners here!" Remla whispered and below her, one of the prisoners looked up and saw the Padawans.

"Intruders!" the prisoner screamed, pointing up at the grate.

"Hey we are here to rescue you, you idiot!" Taffo snapped, but the prisoner was yelling and screaming at them. He would alert the Sith and they would be captured again.

Taffo suddenly activated the thermal detonator as Remla punched the grate and watched it fall with a loud clang onto the cell floor. Taffo threw the detonator down and it landed beside the prisoner.

The prisoners screamed and frantically tried to escape their prison as Remla and Taffo quickly crawled ahead to escape the explosion radius.

"What did you do that for?" Remla cried, annoyed. "There were innocent people in there!"

"They would have alerted the Sith in there and we would have been captured again!" Taffo argued. The Padawans were getting weak and annoyed with what was happening and they were tired of each other.

The detonator exploded and the tunnel shook dangerously as smoke and flames burst out of the open grate behind them, the screams of the prisoners fading as they were blown apart.

"I could have gone and saved them!" Remla shot back.

"Yea, but we would have been captured." Taffo said quietly as the Padawans went silent as they reached another grate. They could hear voices from below.

"Yes, but can you not see the pattern they are using?" a cold voice spoke. "They are going through the air conditioning tunnels and blowing up as they go."

"There they are!" a Sith screamed and Remla and Taffo got their lightsabers out, ready to attack, and realized he wasn't pointing at them, but at two people who had been captured. It was Anakin and Obi Wan!

"It's our Masters!" Taffo hissed. "We have to save them!" Taffo smiled down at Obi Wan. He was here, the Council must have retrieved him from Dantooine and he had come to rescue them. _Obi Wan would want to know about how I had done. _Taffo smiled, recalling his knowing glance when she had sped away. Obi Wan knew she liked him, and he liked her too. They could be a couple! But Taffo knew love was forbidden as a Jedi. But she wasn't close to being a Jedi. She had blown up a room of innocent people because she had gotten annoyed at the one calling to the Sith. She didn't feel worthy of being a Jedi. But Padawans made mistakes, and she hoped the Council would understand that.

"We have to blow up this place first." Remla snapped, focusing on the mission.

"Take them to the holding cells." the cold voice said.

"The holding cells have been destroyed." a Sith answered.

"Take them to the restraining area then, and keep them there." the voice answered.

Remla and Taffo waited for a long time, hoping their Masters were out of range of the detonators explosion and Taffo pulled out a thermal detonator and got ready to throw it down. Remla bent down to look and see who was talking when the grate collapsed underneath them and the Padawans fell to the ground.

"Look who has come to join us."

The Padawans looked up to see a figure cloaked in black, it was the Sith Lord, and he was smiling, his hood covering his face in shadow.

"So you Padawans are the ones who are interfering with my plan and blew up the hallway." the Sith Lord looked angry now. "I know how to deal with you. Take them to the restraining area and remove their weapons. My probe droid is delivering me something special very soon."

The Padawans knew they were in for it, if they had their weapons taken away, they would not be able to fight or blow up the Force crystals. They did not want to fail the mission, but it was too late. They were captured.

Two Sith stepped forward and took them away. Remla looked up to notice they had entered another lot of holding cells and the Sith started to unlock hers, the other Sith removed all Remla's weapons and even took the thermal detonators.

"Can't I have my lightsaber?" Remla pleaded to the Sith.

"No, what do you think we are? Stupid and gullible?" the Sith snapped, shoving Remla into the cell and slamming it shut.

"I think you're weak and arrogant!" Remla called calmly and the Sith stared at her in rage. Remla remembered something Anakin had done long ago and she closed her eyes and reached out with the Force, reaching out to the Sith. Instantly she could tell he hated Korriban, as she sensed his feelings with the Force.

"You hate Korriban, why don't you just leave?" Remla said. The Sith stopped and turned back and stormed over to her cell.

"And how do you know that I hate this place?" he snarled. The other Sith had locked Taffo in her cell opposite Remla's and Taffo began to understand what Remla was going to do, and she closed her eyes and used the Force.

Remla opened her eyes and looked at the Sith, knowing his thoughts and feelings.

"You want to see your wife? I can help you escape and see her." Remla said. The Sith stood there and there were tears in his eyes, almost as if the thought of his wife was going to make him cry.

"Your Jedi mind tricks won't affect me." The Sith guard snapped, regaining his composure.

"No, I'm telling you I will help you escape once we destroy the Sith Lord!" Remla said. She now had the attention of both guards under her mind trick and she watched as Taffo was using the Force to pull her lightsaber from the Sith's belt. Remla almost smiled at the weak minds of the Sith. These were not Sith at all, but merely human guards with weak minds that were easily manipulated.

Remla had to distract them more so Taffo could retrieve their weapons and escape. Taffo used the Force and had taken both lightsabers as Remla released her connection with the Force, breaking her hold on the Sith's minds. Taffo had all their weapons now and Remla looked at the Sith. She could no longer sense their thoughts now that she had released them from her mind trick.

"It's just a Jedi mind trick." the other guard snapped and the two of them muttered angrily and stormed out, not even realizing what had taken place.

"Taffo, Remla that was good work." Obi Wan spoke from his cell. The Padawans were surprised that their Masters were there and hadn't realized they were in the restraining area too.

"Master!" Taffo cried happily. "We have our weapons now."

Obi Wan chuckled. "So do we, we were waiting for you to get here and we witnessed how cleverly you used the Force to do the same trick we did."

The Padawans glanced nervously at each other then Taffo smiled and tossed Remla her lightsaber. Both Padawans ignited their weapons, cut off the bars that locked them in, and stepped out their cells.

They went over to their Masters and saw them happily smiling, but they looked tired. _Anakin looks older_, Remla thought as she cut her Master free of the cell. _Obi Wan looks happy_, Taffo thought as Obi Wan cut himself free with his lightsaber.

"I heard your mission was successful." Obi Wan smiled at Taffo and Taffo grinned.

"Yea, and I found a friend, R8. He helped me." Taffo smiled. Obi Wan looked surprised at how well his Padawan had handled everything and smiled. The two of them gazed at each other in a knowing and loving way. Remla glanced at them and realized that she was right about the two of them.

"You're hurt." Obi Wan gingerly touched Taffo's shoulder.

"I can manage." Taffo smiled. "It can be healed when we return to Coruscant anyway."

"Yes." Obi Wan stepped closer to his Padawan and Remla was sure they were going to kiss like in some gay movie like _Strictly Ballroom_.

"So now we must destroy this planet so the Sith do not get the Force crystals." Anakin spoke as they all headed out the restraining area. Taffo noticed another grate above them.

"We can crawl through the air conditioning tunnels and blow up the area with thermal detonators." Taffo said, even though she knew they had been doing that before.

"Good idea." Anakin nodded. "If we can, we can go to the reactor chamber and blow up the core pillar which will overheat the planet and blow it up."

"That's even better." Remla smiled. The Padawans watched as Obi Wan threw his lightsaber up and it spun with the Force and cut the grate into pieces then landed back in Obi Wan's hand. He Force jumped up and then Anakin followed.

"This is a good mission!" Taffo grinned. "We can finally be together and we are not separated anymore!"

"Yea." Remla agreed as Taffo Force jumped up and Remla jumped up and grabbed the edge, pulling herself up. They were in the air conditioning tunnels now and cool air was blowing around them.

Remla and Taffo crawled after their Masters. Remla noticed her Padawan braid had been singed from the heat of the explosion and she hoped she wouldn't need it for long.

"My mission was scary at first." Remla explained. "I ended up fighting the Sith apprentice and killing him. But I could feel the Dark Side, I could have been close to turning, because it's easy to fall isn't it?"

"Yes, my young Padawan." Anakin looked back and acknowledged Remla. "It is."

Remla frowned at her Master's words. What would he know about the Dark Side? Had he been tempted by the Dark Side before?

"Yea, I had to leave Obi Wan and go into an underground abandoned sandcrawler, and that was where I found R8." Taffo smiled.

Remla was amazed at how the mission had affected them both. They had changed so much, and they knew a lot more about the Force now. They seemed ready to become Jedi, apart from all the mistakes they had done.

Remla looked ahead and followed their Masters to the reactor chamber.

**Next chapter: The final confrontation against the Sith Lord and a tragedy that changes everything.**


	11. Chapter 11

The Padawans jumped out of the air conditioning tunnels and landed in a warm room with a big orange glowing pillar in the centre and lots of complicated controls beneath it.

"Wow, this is a big room." Taffo was impressed, and wondered what it did. She was hoping that the Sith wouldn't know they were there.

"Yes, this is the core pillar. Most planets have these but they are usually heavily guarded. A core pillar is a pillar that connects with the core of the planet. It is used to take the heat from the core of the planet and used when creating blasters for the droids." Obi Wan explained as he walked over to the controls. "If the core pillar here is overheated, which is when it withdraws too much heat from the core, it explodes and the planet is destroyed."

"That's good." Remla smiled. Obi Wan pushed a few buttons, trying to figure out how to work it, when they heard a lightsaber ignite. Anakin had his blue lightsaber out and he turned to face the Sith Lord who was standing at the only exit in the room.

"Leave the core pillar." the Sith Lord snapped. "Now."

Obi Wan pushed a button, hoping to get it to explode before the Sith Lord attacked. _I don't want the Padawans to fight a Sith Lord._ Obi Wan thought, he knew they would die if they attempted to. He had pushed the wrong button and the core pillar stopped glowing. The Sith Lord moved towards them and Remla grabbed at her lightsaber. She had fought the Sith Lord's apprentice and he was difficult.

"Move away from the pillar." the Sith Lord snapped. Remla looked around and saw a few battle droids march over and stop behind the Sith.

"My pleasure." Obi Wan ignited his blue lightsaber and the Padawans backed away from the Sith.

A droid had gripped the trigger on its blaster and accidentally pushed hard and fired, and the burning red light hit Taffo and she fell to the ground.

"Taffo!" Remla cried. Taffo had been hit in the shoulder and it was burnt and smoking where she had been hit. Strangely enough, it had hit the same shoulder where she had been struck by the Sith apprentice. Obi Wan looked back, concerned about his Padawan, and Anakin angrily attacked the Sith Lord. Their Masters were now fighting the Sith Lord and Remla tried to wake her friend up, who had cracked her head against the ground when she fell, knocking her out.

Remla looked over at their Masters. She knew she would have to do something and she looked back at the controls. Remla left Taffo on the ground and ran over to the pillar and pushed a button. Immediately the pillar flamed up with heat and an alarm blared. Remla saw a timer for two minutes on the display panel as she backed away from the pillar. _I've done it._ Remla grinned. _I have completed the mission! Goodbye Korriban!_

The Sith Lord glared at the Jedi then ran, knowing that he would have to escape to save himself, and also knowing very well that he had not gotten the Force crystals, and had failed. The droids fled too, wanting to get away before they all ended up as burnt scrap, and the Jedi Masters ran over to their Padawans.

"Good one Remla." Anakin smiled. "We have only two minutes to escape this planet before it blows, so we will have to leave now and get back to Coruscant."

Remla looked over to see Obi Wan lift Taffo up and carry her as they hurried away from the burning pillar as steam and magma began to spray out of it. They were definitely in danger now.

Remla was concerned for them all. Would they make it out in time? The Sith Lord had escaped. _But so would we_. Remla reassured herself.

Remla ran after her Master as they fled out the reactor chamber and ran down the black hallway. They watched as droids ran out and ran to their ships to flee from the planet.

"What will happen to the Force crystals?" Remla asked as they turned a corner.

"They will be destroyed; the Sith Lord did not get them in time. The probe droid will still be here." Obi Wan answered and just as he said that, they stopped as the probe droid flew at them with the Force crystals. It had been told to deliver them to the Sith Chamber, but had obviously gotten lost, and was now trying to escape the planet before it would explode.

Anakin pulled out his lightsaber and deflected its fire then cut it in half. The droid fell to the ground and the Force crystals spilled onto the floor. Now they would be blown up with the rest of the planet, which was now abandoned. The droids had already fled in their ships and the Sith Lord had escaped. They were the only ones left.

"That was useful." Obi Wan smiled, looking at the pieces of the droid that had been a threat to them before, and now lay defeated on the floor. The others moved to the exit but Remla stopped when she sensed the huge power coming from the Force crystals. If she took just one, then it wouldn't be a waste. Remla hesitated, then quickly grabbed one, sliding it into her Jedi robes. The power surrounded her and Remla was overwhelmed by the magnitude of how she could be connected to everything, just from the power inside the crystal.

The building was now empty and they left the crystals there and ran outside. Taffo slipped out of Obi Wan's grasp as Obi Wan stood on a loose burnt tree root and tripped. Taffo rolled and fell on an unstable patch of black dirt. The sand fell away and Taffo's unconscious form fell down into a concealed pit below, which was obviously a trap for anyone wandering around Korriban.

"Taffo!" Remla cried, running over to see her friend lying in the pit.

"We only have 30 seconds to get to our ship!" Obi Wan snapped, but he had tears in his eyes because he knew they could not save Taffo. Remla ran to the ship and up the landing ramp. She ran over to the cockpit and pulled out a cable from a compartment then ran back to the pit.

"Remla, we have to go!" Anakin cried as the Masters headed for the ship.

"No! I have to save Taffo!" Remla cried, but she was crying because she knew they would have to leave Taffo behind. Obi Wan ran over and pulled the Padawan away.

"We have to leave or you both die!" Obi Wan snapped, he was getting upset with the only choice they had.

"But I don't want Taffo to die!" Remla sobbed. Obi Wan didn't either, but he knew they would have to leave or they all die.

"We have to do this." Obi Wan said as they got into the ship, which the Masters had used to get to Korriban. "Taffo would want us to do this."

"No, she wouldn't want to die!" Remla cried and she ran over and looked out at the pit that Taffo was in as the ship rose into the air.

"Remla, I love Taffo, my Padawan." Obi Wan snapped. "I can't help her, even though it breaks my heart to witness her die this way, but it is the only way."

Remla watched as the pit got further and further away then they had flown through the black clouds and were now out of Korriban's atmosphere. The stars glittered as Remla watched the planet explode. Flames fanned out and pieces of the planet exploded and sprayed out into the galaxy. The explosion continued and asteroids exploded as the flames continued to grow and the blast was getting closer to their ship.

Remla was silently crying as she watched Korriban fade away, nothing more than pieces of floating debris, and Taffo had been blown apart without realizing that she had been left behind. Remla didn't want to think of that, and the only thought that she was thinking was that Taffo could have climbed out of the pit and escaped on a starfighter. Even the droids had been blown to pieces. Remla was now alone.

Remla watched as they maneuvered out of the asteroid field. Remla kept staring at where Korriban would have been, where Taffo would have been. _Taffo has to be alive._ Remla thought as they sped to Coruscant, but sadly she knew that her friend had gone and now she would have to face the Council alone, and never see her friend again.

**Next chapter: The final chapter, Remla ponders her future and fights against the Dark Side.**


	12. Chapter 12

**The final chapter. Hope you enjoyed this story.**

"Remla, I'm sorry." Anakin sat down next to his Padawan and Remla tried not to cry anymore. "There was nothing we could have done."

Remla nodded, but felt angry at Obi Wan. He had tripped and caused Taffo to fall into that pit. _It is all his fault._ Remla glared at Obi Wan and felt really angry at how he had caused Taffo to fall and die. _Obi Wan killed Taffo. _

She watched Obi Wan casually pilot the ship until he turned to face her and frowned. It was only then that Remla realized that she had screamed at him.

"I hate you!"

"Don't ever say that Padawan." Anakin looked at Remla. "Emotions like that lead to the Dark Side. I know you would feel pain, anger, hatred at Taffo's death. That is normal for a human, but for a Jedi, we must learn to control that."

"It's hard. I miss her." Remla said quietly.

"But you will grow stronger from it." Obi Wan stated. "You will have faced the temptations of the Dark Side, and turned away. That is what every Jedi must face."

"Death?"

"The power of the Dark Side."

Remla stared out into space, pondering her future. Taffo was gone, dead. She couldn't change that; she couldn't go back in time and fix that. But she began to wonder what would have been worse. What if it had been Obi Wan who had died? Remla wouldn't want to see her friend go through the pain of losing her beloved Master.

"Padawan, you will grow stronger from this." Anakin told her. "It's just a matter of time."

"Yeah." Remla said softly. "In time."

**The sequel 'The Force Crystals' is underway. If you liked this story, you'll like the sequel even more. Thanks for taking time to read all of this!**


End file.
